


Harriet Coulson: Avenger

by Jonghyun_Appa



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Movies), Thor - All Media Types
Genre: Brother and Sister Natasha and Clint, Crossover, Father Agent Coulson, Female Harry Potter, Gen, Growing up in SHIELD, Harriet Coulson is Harry Potter as a girl, If Lily was an Agent, If the Potter's had a backup plan, Ignore Prologue, i need to learn how to tag, more will be added later - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-30
Updated: 2018-08-22
Packaged: 2019-04-30 08:08:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 28
Words: 57,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14492592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jonghyun_Appa/pseuds/Jonghyun_Appa
Summary: Smuggled out of the country, a toddler gets a new identity and a whole new set of rules to play by, especially when there’s a bunch of super-heroes who will always have your back.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing, nada, not a thing. I just like pulling the strings while the real owners are not looking ^_^
> 
> So this was originally posted over on ffnet. I’ve hit a bit of a brick wall and hoping posting it here on AO3 will inspire me…. Hopefully. The time line is a little screwed. I wrote this back in 2012 and haven’t edited since then because who has time to do that, but if there are any major flaws, like google translate please tell me. Thank you.

The whole room became silent as a group of people stood by the open door, they all seemed to be of a different world, and none could tell that they were part of the same group but in the way they stood you could tell they were a team, and would fight to protect each other and the innocents around them. 

Albus Dumbledore stood from his seat and with twinkling eyes spread his arms, once again calling attention to him and away from the group of misfits by the door. 

“It is with great honour I present to the staff and children of Hogwarts, The Avengers. They are a group of gifted individuals that fight for peace in the Muggle world.” There were a few scoffs from the Slytherin table before they received a glare from a large man in red with a hammer, “But they are not all what they seem.” The twinkle was practically blinding as the aged wizard motioned for the group to introduce themselves. 

“I am Director Nick Fury, of S.H.I.E.L.D” A tall man with an eye patch stepped forwards, “This is Agent’s Coulson, Romanoff and Barton.” Two women and a man stepped forward, they all wore black and had weapons strapped to certain areas of their bodies, although the man held a bow in his left hand and had arrows in a quiver on his back. 

“This is Captain America (a man in a blue and red full-body suit with a circular shield stepped forward), Ironman (A red and gold robot stepped forward and waved), Dr. Banner (A shy man in a suit stepped forward, rubbing his hands together in a nervous gesture), Thor Odinson (the man with the Hammer stepped forward and smiled, the Slytherin’s shrunk back), and Loki Laufeyson (a man in green sneered as he stepped forward)”

Whisper’s broke out within the hall and it took one of the female Agent’s whistling to get them to quieten down, at the head table Severus hid a smirk, he’d known Agent Coulson for a while and was glad to see her doing so well. 

“We are not here to be an attraction for you, we are not here for you to try and get us into your beds, some of us are old enough to be your grandfather (Ironman snorted while Captain America shifted slightly) We are here to help protect you all from the threat of Voldemort (she ignored the many shudder’s throughout the students and even from some of the staff) now, as you were.” She nodded before following behind Fury when he led the group down the central isle and towards the head table, where Dumbledore was still stood.

Agent Coulson broke away from the group and sat next to Severus who sneered at her before receiving a sneer in return, the school sat with baited breathe before the potions master smiled (there were a few kids who had to be sent to the Hospital Wing a few seconds later), Dumbledore watched the twinkle in his eyes dimming slightly.

“Albus Dumbledore, thank you for allowing us entry, and the ability to see this place as well. We’ll set up in a room near Mr. Snape, as we already know him, I’m sure that you won’t mind.” Fury spoke while the rest of the group sat near the potions master and their other team-mate, it only took a few moments before Thor was laughing like he would on Asgard and Loki was rolling his eyes while he tried to converse with both Agent Coulson and Severus Snape, and as Dumbledore’s eyes connected with the emerald green ones of the young Agent the old wizard felt that things were going to be alright. For Harriet Potter had returned to Hogwarts.


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing, nada, not a thing. I just like pulling the strings while the real owners are not looking ^_^

Everyone knew the story of Harriet Potter and her triumph over He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named (Merlin that’s a lot of hyphens!) but no one knew what happened to her after that night, for you see she completely disappeared, not even Dumbledore knew where she was, and so while the Wizarding world fell into a panic over a completely different terror, The-Girl-Who-Lived was being taken to a secure location by someone no one would have suspected. For you see the Potter’s made two correspondences before their deaths and both were meeting at that very moment in time.

 

~~^v^~~

 

It was with a heavy heart that Severus Snape collected a small bundle from a building that had just been blasted apart, he refused to set his dark eyes on the flash of red that he knew was his best friends hair, just as he’d refused to look at the man laid at the bottom of the stairs as he’d made his way in. He may not have liked James Potter, but he respected the man enough to want to keep his smiling face as the memory he wanted and not that of his death.

 

Carefully cradling the little girl in his arms, he grabbed the plush deer before turning around, and making sure his eyes didn’t stray, he left the house before anyone else arrived; he could already feel the wards breaking around him and knew that Albus would be on his way in seconds. Stepping over the debris he rocked the child that was beginning to stir in his arms and once far enough away he looked back, to see Albus Dumbledore rushing along the path to get to the house, with a sneer he spun on the spot and apperated to a secluded spot at Heathrow Airport.

 

As soon as he arrived the toddler he was cradling began to cry and with soothing words he began to calm her down, “Shhh Harriet, everything’s going to be okay.” Bright green eyes stared back at him, and as tears continued to fall from those eyes Severus felt his heart constrict; it was like looking into Lily’s eyes in 5th year all over again.

 

“’ev’us” the potions master smiled softly and nodded, shifting the child’s weight in his arms he stepped from his dark spot and along the path into the Airport. The heels to his boots clicked on the floor as he stepped towards one of the gate’s that he knew someone who would help was waiting, it was tragic that Lily and James weren’t doing this like they had arranged to.

 

“Agent Phil Coulson?” He asked as he saw a man in a suit stood near the window, the man turned and began to smile, before turning it into a frown.

 

“Are you Mr. Potter?” Severus shook his head and saw the frown on the other man’s face deepen, “If you are not Mr. Potter then you must be Mr. Snape, did something happen to them?”

 

“They were killed just under an hour ago, I was able to get Harriet out though.” At this Coulson looked towards the bundle of blankets to see green eyes staring at him from under a mess of black hair.

 

“She’ll be safe with us.” Severus nodded as he handed over the little girl (and the plushie) who kept quiet knowing that she wasn’t going to be staying with her “ev’us”.

 

“Just make sure she stays out of that man’s hands, I’ll keep the way clear this end.” Agent Coulson nodded and turned towards the tunnel that would take him and his new charge away from England and the manipulations of an Old man. The last time Severus saw his goddaughter was the green eyes that shone with tears over the back of the Agent’s shoulder.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Phil Coulson had seen a lot of things during his time as an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D (the **S** trategic **H** omeland **I** ntervention **E** nforcement and **L** ogistics **D** ivision) but when an Owl flew though his office window he had reason to be shocked, for he hadn’t seen one since he was a child and he lived next door to Lily Evans. It also came as a shock to find out that his superior, Director Nick Fury, also knew of the Witches and Wizards and also asked to read the letter.

 

_Phil Coulson,_

_I know that is has been a long time since we last spoke, and I apologise for my method in which I have contacted you, but it’s the only way for you no longer appear to be on the radar (much like I’ve disappeared) and Owl Post is the only way it will reach you._

_I don’t know how much you know of the Wizarding World (I’m sure that someone you know has an idea about what I mean) but there is a war, one that lands my family at the very heart of it. To protect my family, I need your help Phil; you’re the only one that can do it._

_I have a daughter, she’s meant to be a part of a Prophecy that makes her a target, I don’t want her to be a target, I also don’t want her to be manipulated if me and James were to die. Please, Phil, I ask that you come to England so that you can take my daughter away from all of this._

_I don’t expect a reply (the owl has probably flown away already as it has another letter to deliver) I only ask that you be at Gate 2 at Heathrow Airport on 31 st October, either me, James Potter or Severus Snape will be there with my daughter, Harriet. Take her away, and keep her safe, do not allow anyone to find her. Adopt her as your own if we don’t survive, just don’t send her back to England, for anything. _

_Friends for Life,_

_Agent Lily Evans-Potter_

And so on the specified date, with Fury’s consent, Phil waited and now that he was leaving he could allow himself to feel grief for the loss of a dear friend, and colleague (even if he hadn’t known she was one, she was a Secret Agent for a reason after all). Looking at the toddler in the seat beside him, he was surprised to see intelligent green eyes staring back at him, it unsettled him slightly.

 

“Hello Harriet, my name if Phil. Your mother was a friend of mine and I’m now the only one that can take care of you.” The child blinked at him slowly, “Would you like me to look after you?”

 

Harriet Potter held her deer plushie closer and turned to the window, silent tears fell but she didn’t answer the strange man beside her and for the rest of the flight she went between tearful wakefulness and nightmare riddled sleep. Phil held her when needed, offering comfort as the plane made its way from England to America.


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just be aware that all languages other than English were done on google translate. If they are wrong please send me a PM with the correct translation and I will happily change it.

Nick Fury watched (with one eye) as one of his best Agents left the airplane with a pink wrapped bundle, an owl had arrived a few hours ago with all the necessary documentation about Harriet Potter and all that was needed was one signature and the girl would go underground, just like Lily had wanted. He also knew that someone needed to legally adopt the child (probably Coulson) to make it impossible for anyone to take her away.

 

“Welcome back Agent Coulson, I trust everything went okay?” Phil Coulson looked up and smiled slightly, adjusting the sleeping body of the child in his arms before replying.

 

“She was just made an orphan.” Nick nodded, that made it even easier to hide the child.

 

“Then we best get everything ready,” They were already walking towards a black SUV, “There’s paperwork that needs signing and then you’ll have a few months off to get acquainted with your new daughter.” Coulson paused in his step, Fury smiled as he got into the car. This was going to be one of the best decisions S.H.I.E.L.D had ever made.

 

“Yes, Sir.” Coulson replied before he carefully got into the car, Harriet had woken as he was putting the belt over them both and for the first time Fury got a glimpse of the eyes that would later have all of them wrapped around her little finger, and the lightning shaped scar that would forever mark her as the Girl-Who-Lived.

 

~~^v^~~

 

“Не моя проблема” ( _Not my problem_ ) Green eyes glared at the teenage  girl across from her, Harriet Coulson (for she had been adopted) was 8 years old now and was sick of all the lessons, even the ones by Natasha Romanoff (the girl she was currently glaring and speaking in Russian with)

 

“Тогда не получить это неправильно” ( _Then do not get it wrong_ ) Natasha replied with a glare of her own as she corrected the girls stance one again, “и вы не будете иметь проблем с мышечной болью” ( _and you will not have problems with muscle pain_ ) Harriet just rolled her eyes, it was no use arguing with the Russian she was as stubborn as hell and would beat you into submission, literally, even if it was a fun way to learn Russian while under intense stress.

 

“Enough you two, Harriet you father was calling for you earlier.”  Both girls turned to face Nick Fury and nodded, Harriet scrambled to collect her things before heading for the door, although she did poke her tongue out at Natasha before leaving, dodging S.H.I.E.L.D member’s as she went to go find her father. She was going to have her first lesson with a gun; even if she’d managed to bribe one of the other agents to allow her to practise when she was 5 (what her father didn’t know couldn’t hurt him).

 

“Ah, Harriet.” Said girl grinned widely as she dropped her things on the chair and headed towards her father, who was stood at one of the stations in the shooting range, he waved away one of the other agents with him, who winked at Harriet as he left.

 

“Now as you know to be a S.H.I.E.L.D Agent you have to be proficient with firearms, it’ll also help you with your aim should you want to try anything else,” Harriet smirked and Phil nodded to himself, he was sure she’d been eyeing Barton’s bow and arrow for a few days now (or was it years, the girl had always had a fascination with the boy who liked heights), and so for the rest of the day he continued to train his daughter, and he was every bit the proud father when she managed to get the maximum points with her first shot at the target.

 

By the time Harriet was asleep in bed, Phil was speaking to Nick about telling the girl about her magical heritage, after all in 3 years she would be heading to a magic school to be the best she could be in that field as well.

 

~~^v^~~

 

“Jeg vil ikke gå” ( _I do not want to go_ ) Phil Coulson sighed, it seemed Harriet was practising Norwegian this week, pinching the bridge of his nose he knocked on the door again.

 

“You’re not going to be gone for long, until Christmas and then you’ll be back here.” Who knew an 11 year old Witch would have separation issues? Coulson sure didn’t and he was sure that if Fury didn’t stop smirking he was going to throw something at him, it also didn’t help that both Natasha (who Harriet had become friends with when she was 9) and Clint (who enjoyed teaching someone how to use a bow and arrow) was also there and trying to hide their laughter.

 

“Jeg vil ikke gå” ( _I do not want to go_ ) God, could this girl be stubborn! Phil began to bang his head on the door, and heard a snort escape from Fury’s mouth, oh how he was going to enjoy shooting that man later.

 

“I know you don’t want to go, and if you don’t like it by the time Christmas comes, we’ll have private tutors for you.”  Phil waited, and then the door opened to reveal one bright green eye.

 

“løfte” ( _Promise_ )

 

“Promise” Phil replied and was suddenly knocked to the ground by his daughter, who was speaking a mile a minute and changing languages so many times he couldn’t really keep up but he caught the gist of it. Meanwhile, Natasha, Clint and Fury were all laughing, leaning against each other for support.

 

~~^v^~~

 

At 16 years of age, Harriet Coulson knew when something was about to happen, she was also trained to know when the people around her were lying and Nick Fury was spouting a lot of BS at that very second.  She knew the moment she’d hit base that something was up, for one Hawkeye (Clint Barton) and Natasha were nowhere to be seen, neither was her father (and he was normally the first one to see her when she got back) it didn’t help that she had one more year left of magic school and she already wanted to go on missions (school was boring no matter what country you were in, it was all the same).

 

“Are you even listening to me Agent Coulson?”

 

“Sorry Sir, I was too busy trying to figure out what you were saying behind that entire BS, but I think I have the hang of it, so can I go? I’ve just got off a really long flight and I seriously don’t need this right now.” She didn’t bother waiting to be dismissed she just left, missing the smile that spread across Fury’s face (it scared three of the new recruits, and they had to be knocked out because of their hysterics)

 

Walking down the halls she was glad when she finally reached her father’s rooms, typed in the pass and crashed on the sofa face first. She hated public transport, more than she hated Natasha’s Russian bitching, and that was saying something, she turned her head so she wasn’t suffocating anymore and blinked at the person sat across from her. It certainly wasn’t her father, but it was someone she was glad to see.

 

“Uncle Sev! What are you doing here? I thought English schools got out later than Japanese ones.” She stood and hugged the man who could peel paint with a glare before stepping back and inspecting him properly, she could already tell the man had been worked too hard and had probably stayed in the dungeons the whole year (when he wasn’t playing to the tune of Albus Dumbledore and Lord Voldemort).

 

“I called in some of my holiday, I’ve certainly earned it. Dumbledore had a lot to say to you not going to Hogwarts this year; he wants the transfer student to come to his school, especially after the fiasco that was the Tri-Wizard Tournament.” Harriet cringed as she’d read how all three contestants had been killed as they’d grabbed the cup; she hated to think what would have happened if she’d been there, she had been planning on spending her 6th year at Beauxbatons.

 

“Are you here to keep me company while dad’s on a mission? I know the last time I was home I totalled half the building, but at least I fixed it all!” She dropped back on the sofa, spreading herself out while Severus chuckled darkly.

 

“I guess I am, but if you don’t want me here I can go…” He trailed off when Harriet flung herself at him and practically pulled him onto the couch and rested her head in his lap, effectively stopping him from leaving (not that he would he just liked seeing her reactions).

 

“No, it’s good to see you, I haven’t seen you since I was 6 and it’s not like I can visit you in England.” They both shivered as they thought of what would happen if the British Wizarding World found out its saviour had come back, they had all thought of her as dead, or even in training to take over, she’d laughed at that one (who would want to take over England when there was America, a much bigger challenge?)

 

“How has school been? You still do well in potions.” Severus asked as he ran his fingers through the head of hair on his lap, Harriet snorted, “Of course I’m doing well in Potions, and I do well in all my classes, top of the year every time.”

 

“You decided where you’re going for your final year?” He asked, and this time the teenager sat up and frowned, Severus cocked his head to the side slightly as he watched her get up and begin pacing, and from reading her surface thoughts he knew she was really stressed about it this time.

 

“I was thinking that I’ll be home schooled for my last year, it’s basically just 6th year all over again but with N.E.W.T’s at the end of it.” Her emerald gaze stared straight into obsidian, “I was thinking of maybe contacting the exams board and having the tests during the summer, that way when I pass I can go straight into missions. Y’know, help protect the world and things.”

 

Severus nodded, if Harriet did do the exams it meant that she’d be free of schooling (Dumbledore would have a lot to say about it but what could Snape do?), it would be advantageous as he was sure that Harriet was already working at higher level than most and could possibly pass a few Mastery’s as well. He had no doubt about that, none at all, for he knew she already held a Master’s degree in Potion’s but enjoyed it too much to stop taking classes.

 

“You’re also up-to-date on your Muggle schooling as well?” He received a nod, “Then go for it, I’m sure Fury would love to have another Agent in the field and that means you can spend more time with your father.” Severus watched as Harriet grinned at him, knowing that she’d be fine as long as she had something to do, once again he found himself congratulating Lily’s genius at wanting Harriet out of England.

 

“Thanks Uncle Sev! So what do you want to do to pass the time?” She asked, and Severus mock groaned, knowing the girl would want to do something strenuous now that her energy was back.


	4. Chapter 3

It was few days after she arrived that she found Severus had to leave once more due to Dumbledore wanting his favourite pet to come home (so did Voldemort), Harriet had laughed as she commented that the world was Severus’ pets not the other way around, it took a few minutes until Severus’ mask cracked (and he scared the same recruits Fury had scared a few days previously, they had to be given medical leave). After the snarky man had left she found herself with nothing to do, she’d contacted the exams board the day before and with international mail it was going to take a long time (probably only a week but with nothing to do it would feel like a long time).

 

She’d also hacked the mission assignments and had found the Natasha was in Sweden, Clint was in Egypt and her father was travelling all over America doing Fury only knew what (because she’d been caught by the boss man himself before she could find out), which left her alone for the next few weeks, or months, and she really didn’t want to spend too long in Fury’s care (he was creepy when he smiled) and she wasn’t qualified to go on missions. So with a sigh she went back to her room and collapsed on the bed, her face turned towards the wall that had a collage of pictures from her childhood and the different schools she’d gone to. Her eyes sought out one from last summer, where her father had taken her to New York (and unsuccessfully tried to keep her away from the Stark Expo) where they’d seen the sights and also kept off of Fury’s radar.

 

The picture was of them both stood outside the Empire State Building, wearing ‘I <3 NY’ t-shirts and smiling stupidly, Harriet smirked, they’d looked like a couple of tourists even though Phil Coulson had been there loads of times, and she’d been there for a day trip with Salem Academy when she was 11. Getting up she moved to touch the picture before shaking her head and leaving the room, she needed to practise because she was sure that Clint would be back in a few weeks and would want one of their “friendly” competitions (just so he knew she was keeping up with her practise and to give him a dose of healthy competition as everyone else sucked at archery)

 

~~^v^~~

 

Clint Barton loved heights, he loved them because he could see everything, he could also map the routes those below him would take as well and that was a really good thing to have as a talent if you were an S.H.I.E.L.D agent. So he was surprised to find that it took him a few days to realise he was being followed by a little girl, the one that had been there for a long as he had. He still remembered the first time he’d seen her, big green eyes looking up at him from the ground before she’d ducked behind Coulson and disappeared into one of the rooms that Fury would have been found in. That had been four years ago, and he’d heard that at the time she’d just begun walking and had separation issues.

 

He realised that one of the reason’s he hadn’t noticed was because he wasn’t where he normally was (meaning he was on the ground instead of up high) and he’d only noticed because of the big green eyes he’d seen ducking behind one of the pillars in the archery grounds. Of course, he’d shook it off but when he’d seen those same eyes watching him the next time he’d been there he’d known he had his own little stalker.

 

So as he settled once more in his ‘nest’ as Fury had been taken to calling it, he watched the 6 year old move about without anyone on the ground noticing, not even when she walked right in front of them in some cases. He followed the girl’s progress towards the archery range and with a tilted head he followed, his blue eyes watched as the girl began setting up her own bow and a quiver of arrows.

 

Clint had continued to watch as she’d fired off a few, getting more and more frustrated as the time went on and she still couldn’t hit the mark, he even smiled when she finally did get the target, even if it was just the edge.

 

“You know, it’s not nice to spy.” Clint jumped and found himself looking right into big green eyes, backing up he realised he’d been so out of it he hadn’t noticed that she’d stopped and climbed up to talk to him.

 

“Everyone does it.” Clint replied quietly as he watched the girl settle beside him.

 

“True, I’m Harriet.” Those big green eyes captured him and he replied with a smile and his name, in return he got a big grin before she left and completely disappeared. It took Clint a few moments to realise he was alone and that she’d left him to clear up, with a chuckle he left his high advantage and began to clear the area until he could do his own training, getting the centre of the target every time.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Hawkeye was glad when he could finally return to base, he’d missed not seeing his friends (even if he couldn’t stand Natasha and Harriet was 7 years younger than he was) although he knew from experience that Natasha would be on a mission which meant that Harriet would be alone as Coulson would have been making sure that Fury was kept up to speed and sane. Looking out of the window of the quinjet he thought back to the little girl who he’d taught archery and who’d loved heights as much as he had, he chuckled as he thought of how she’d be driving Fury mad as he knew she’d been back for a few weeks now.

 

Within a few minutes he could see the main base of S.H.I.E.L.D and the smoke rising from one of the buildings, as soon as the jet touched the ground he was jumping from it along with his weapons, rushing around the buildings and past other operatives. When he finally arrived at the burning building he could see a group of agents working to put out the flames while Fury stood shouting at Harriet, he grinned as he watched her bored expression and wondered what she’d done to set the building on fire.

 

“WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? DID YOU REALLY THINK THAT HAVING A DUEL FOR YOUR EXAMS WAS A GOOD IDEA?”

 

“I have to be in a duel to show what I can do, how was I supposed to know that I’d set the building on fire? The judges said that they’d put wards up to stop it.”

 

Clint frowned; he thought that Harriet wouldn’t take her exams until she was near the end of her final year, as he moved closer he knew the exact moment that he’d been spotted because Harriet ignored what Fury had begun to say and was running towards him.

 

“HAWKEYE!!”

 

He grinned as he put his things down quickly, and as he straightened he felt his friend slam into him nearly knocking them both to the ground. As he squeezed he realised how much his friend had grown over the past 10 months, the girl was now only a few inches shorter than him (and had more curves than he wanted to see on someone who was like a little sister to him), and he also noticed that her hair was longer and straight instead of curly.

 

“Hey! You got a name yet?” He asked when she’d finally let go of him.

 

“Fire starter comes to mind.” Fury muttered as he went past, giving up on reprimanding Harriet now that she’d have a distraction, Clint just laughed as Harriet stuck her tongue out at the one eyed man.

 

“No, but I should have one soon, I’m not going to school next year and am doing my exams.” She waved her hand at the dying fire behind her, and he noticed a few robed wizards to the side talking, “I know I’m going to pass and then that means I’ll be joining you on missions.”

 

“God help us all when you go on your first mission.” Clint grabbed his gear and linked arms with Harriet as they walked away from the mess behind them and towards Clint’s rooms, laughing and joking along the way. It was definitely good to be back home.


	5. Chapter 4

Agent Maria Hill had risen through the ranks of S.H.I.E.L.D and as each year had passed, she’d watched as Harriet had grown and bloomed under the tutelage of both S.H.I.E.L.D operatives and her magic schools all over the globe (it had also helped their intelligence to know about the world that believed it was completely hidden.) So as she watched Fury storm off, after losing once again to Harriet’s tendency for distraction, she spoke into her ear piece.

 

“Well done Team 3, Situation averted.” There was cheering before she turned towards the door, within seconds Fury had passed through them and she saluted, along with the rest of the crew on the team before returning to her post. Her gaze found the screen and she watched Hawkeye lead Harriet away, she smiled slightly before giving order’s once again.

 

~~^v^~~

 

“Coulson, Hill!” two small children ducked behind one of the crates and giggled before looking around the sides, Nick Fury was walking throughout the stacks, he’d offered to babysit the two children while their father’s went on missions, oh how he was regretting that offer. At least if Natasha and Clint were around he wouldn’t have to be chasing after them, but they were in training and so here he was, running around looking for the two misfits.

 

“You won’t get any chocolate if you don’t come out to play with Uncle Fury!” Harriet giggled before Maria shushed her, Fury had heard and was walking in their direction, the two 7 year olds nodded before they rushed out from their hiding place, both in different directions. Fury looked after one dark head before turning to the other, with a sigh he began going after Maria, as he had more of a chance of catching her that the other misfit. Maria Hill watched from behind a crate as Fury started going after Harriet, she giggled into her hand before following, keeping to the shadows. When was the one eyed man going to realise nothing was as it seemed, she hid a smile behind her hand as she ducked around a corner.  

 

Harriet ducked behind a crate and took a breath, her accidental magic stopped as she no longer looked like Maria; she ducked her head around the corner and then began to run again when she saw how close Fury was to her. With a smirk worthy of her Uncle Severus she began to climb, so that she could see everything from a higher point, like Clint always did, from her vantage point she could see Maria stalking after Fury, who was going in circles, she giggled at the silliness of the man.

 

Getting down she moved until she could pull Maria away, and they both left Fury alone, laughing as they went to the Coulson rooms to play. When both of their fathers’ got back they found Fury still looking for the children who had both fallen asleep in their father’s beds.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Maria walked along the halls, as an 11 year old she had begun training a few years ago and was soon to have even more lessons that year, she was on her way to Harriet’s rooms as she wouldn’t be seeing her friend for the next 10 months and didn’t like hanging around when Clint and Natasha were around (not that she had a problem with the older kids she just didn’t feel comfortable, Harriet was the one who made friends with everyone not her).

 

“Maria!” the blue eyed girl stopped and smiled as her green eyed twin-in-all-but-blood came running towards her.

 

“Harriet, I heard you were trying to choose a school. Do you have the files and prospectuses?”

 

“Yeah, but I could use some help. There’s one I’m not going to go to at all, but I can’t choose where I want to go. I don’t want to be too far in case anything happens here.” Maria smiled as she linked arms with the smaller girl, walking back to the Coulson rooms she listened as Harriet continued to talk about all of the schools and the fact she’d be back at Christmas as her father had promised her she would.

 

When they finally reached the rooms Maria looked at the stack of school choices and sighed, “Okay, so ones out of the country are no goes, for the first year at least, so all those in America are in.” With a smile Harriet dragged Maria over and they began sorting.

 

~~^v^~~

 

“Agent Hill.”

 

Maria turned and grinned at the other 12 year old behind her, it seemed that the summer holidays had begun and her friend was now back home.

 

“Agent Coulson how was Texas?” Harriet smirked and shifted the strap on her shoulder; her green eyes looked away towards where her father was talking to Fury.

 

“It was eventful; I heard you guys had some problems in California.”

 

“Nothing we couldn’t handle, not that I was allowed to go.” Harriet laughed as she strode forward and draped an arm around the taller girl.

 

“Maybe next time, yeah? Now tell me, did he really turn into a huge green troll like creature?” Maria rolled her eyes and allowed the girl to drag her around the compound, chatting aimlessly the whole time (they both knew Harriet would hack into the files later).

 

~~^v^~~

 

Harriet left Clint to get some sleep, she’d noticed he’d been struggling to stay awake for her and so she left him to find her other friend. She’d grown up with Maria, but due to the promotions Maria had had over the years it was hard for them to both be at the compound at the same time (and not from lack of trying, Fury just didn’t trust them together after what they’d done when he’d babysat for the first and only time).

 

“Agent Coulson” Harriet nodded to the agent that spoke and tilted her head as she waited for them to continue, “The Exam board has left and here are your results for the tests you have taken.” The green eyed woman smiled and took the envelope, the Agent saluted before leaving, with a sigh she continued; tucking the envelope into her pocket as she arrived on the bridge.

 

“Agent Hill, thanks for getting Hawkeye to diffuse the situation.” Maria smirked as she taped a few keys before turning to face the girl behind her.

 

“As much as it would have been funny to see Director Fury sporting a pink goatee and a polka dot eye patch, I didn’t want to listen to him complain. Plus, you needed a distraction from all of those exams you’ve been taking lately.” Harriet smiled and nodded.

 

“I have been doing a lot of things lately, want to just hang out and have a little fun?” Maria nodded and they left the bridge, Fury shaking his head from the corner of the room, his eye patch changing to pink with yellow spots.


	6. Chapter 5

Phil Coulson stared at his phone while he sat in the back of a car, heading to the building that housed the Tesseract, he’d wished he could have been at the main compound so he could have welcomed his daughter home like always, he sighed again causing the driver to glance in his mirror.

 

“Are you okay sir?” Phil looked up and nodded before looking out at the desert around them, why couldn’t someone else have been given the mission to check up on the energy cube, someone like Maria Hill. He shook his head; Maria wasn’t there because she was the only one that could diffuse a situation between Harriet and Director Fury.

 

He grinned as he thought of Fury and all the things that Harriet could have pulled on him by now, he looked once more at his phone, he and Harriet had an agreement that when he was on missions they wouldn’t contact each other, at least not until Phil phoned to say he was on his way home. He sighed again, it had been nearly two months and still he was travelling everywhere trying to do the work that Fury wanted him to do, he had the insane urge to pout and throw a tantrum.

 

“We’re nearly there sir.” Phil sighed and shoved all thoughts of Harriet from his mind; hopefully this would be his last mission so he could finally return home.

 

~~^v^~~

 

“Tony Stark of Stark Industries has returned to the United States and in an earlier press conference he’s announced that Stark Industries would no longer manufacture weapons, Robert Downey reports.”

 

Harriet looked up at the news screen before it went blank, with a glare she looked over her shoulder to see Director Fury stood there with the remote in his hands, the one eyed man just walked so he was in front of her before looking down.

 

“Agent Coulson will be returning after his current mission, you also have permission to contact him whenever you wish.” Fury watched as the girl in front of him ignored him and continued to stare at the laptop screen in front of her.

 

“Thank you Director Fury, but I already knew all of this. Can you please turn my TV back on; I actually want to watch the news.” Harriet looked up and smirked at the one eyed man who stood frozen for a while until he pressed a button on the remote; the screen behind him turned back on but was no longer talking about Tony Stark. Her eyes narrowed as she watched him walk from her room, there was definitely something going on, S.H.I.E.L.D had been too active recently, especially since everything that had happened back in 2003, she was determined to get to the bottom of it, which was why she was hacking the classified files.

 

~~^v^~~

 

“DAD!”

 

Phil Coulson looked up, from where he’d been checking that all of his things had come off the jet properly, to see a streak of black before falling backwards onto the asphalt.

 

“It’s good to see you too kiddo, how was school?” he ignored the pain as he hugged his daughter close, he could see Clint laughing as he came closer, obviously the elder man had chosen to walk instead of run.

 

“School was okay, I took my N.E.W.T’s at the beginning of summer” she ignored the fact that she’d blown up a building while doing her DADA exam, “I haven’t seen the results yet, I wanted you to be here, like with my O.W.L’s.” Phil nodded and shifted; taking the hint Harriet got up but still held Phil’s hand. Once stood he looked over his daughter, he hadn’t seen her for nearly a year with all the missions he’d been on and Harriet wanting to stay at the school during holidays, she was no longer the little girl that used to follow him everywhere.

 

“There’s probably nothing to worry about, you probably have O’s across the board. Now, what did you do to amuse yourself while I was away? I hope you didn’t blow up any buildings.” He caught the looked exchanged between Harriet and Clint and sighed; he looked behind him to see some of the young Agent’s carrying his things.

 

“I didn’t do anything on purpose, I’ve been mainly keeping a track of my studies, training and what’s been happening with Stark Industries. The stocks fell so I brought a load, he’s going to pick the company up again and it’s going to be better than ever, plus at a bargain price I’m bound to make millions later.” Phil nodded, Harriet had invested in a lot of things in the past few years, and her predictions hadn’t been wrong yet, looking at Clint he noticed that there was someone missing.

 

“Agent Romanoff not back yet?”

 

“She was here for a few hours before she was back off on a mission.” Clint replied as Harriet had chosen that moment to study the floor, there was obviously something more to this.

 

“Okay, how about we get inside and you can tell me everything, I’m sure you hacked the files so I don’t have to tell you what I’ve been up to.” Harriet grinned before grabbing Clint’s hand and dragging both men into the building after her.

 

~~^v^~~

 

“I just got you back and now you’re heading out again, this isn’t fair! The reason why I took those tests was so I could spend more time with you instead of being away at a school!” Phil pinched the bridge of his nose before looking at Harriet, who had placed herself between him and his overnight bag.

 

“It’ll only be a few days, since all of the other agents are on other missions” Phil watched as her eyes glowed for a few moments before she turned away from him.

 

“My birthday is in a few days. If you go, I’ll only have Director Fury to spend it with.” Phil closed his eyes and sighed.

 

“I know kiddo, I’ll try and get back as fast as possible, I only have to do a few things and then I’ll be back.”

 

“But you won’t be here for my birthday.” Phil watched as Harriet turned, her eyes still glowed but it was with tears and not anger this time, and glared at him before leaving through the door where Fury had just appeared.

 

“She didn’t take it well.”

 

“No she didn’t. I’ve sent an owl to Severus; hopefully he’ll be able to come.” Phil grabbed his bag and left Fury alone in the room, Fury sighed, the girl was either going to be a nightmare for the next few days or a saint.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the kudos and comments. I'm trying to keep writing from where I've gotten to previously but work is getting in the way, hence the long time between updates on here. But THANK YOU!!!


	7. Chapter 6

Harriet Coulson: Avenger

Chapter 6

Natasha Romanoff checked her reflection one more time, before stepping out of the ladies toilets and walking across the ball room, her floor length black dress giving her the appearance of floating. She knew that she was getting stares from the many people around her and it annoyed her, a lot, it also didn’t help that she was still distracted by the conversation she’d had with both Clint and Harriet (Harriet had been more vocal than Clint had so did it really count as a conversation?).

 

“Ah, there you are Miss. Rushman; I was just telling Professor Snape of your enthusiasm in Chemistry.” Natasha looked up to see Severus Snape looking at her; a bored expression on his face, the only indication that he recognised her was the slight flare of his nostrils until he sneered (his way of smiling she’d realised after meeting the man for the first time).

 

“And what part of the chemical process excites you so Miss. Rushman.” Natasha smiled softly, like the rich shy girl she was trying to be.

 

“I like the way compounds can be stripped to their basic forms and then remade as something else.” Her voice was quiet and knew the moment that she’d lost the interest of Mr. Parks, the man who stood to her left and was one of the leading faces in Physics.

 

“I’m sure that you’ll have a lot to talk about but I must leave you. Good night, Miss. Rushman, Professor Snape.” And the man left, Natasha waited for Severus to speak.

 

“And so Harriet is once again alone on her birthday.” His voice was quiet and Natasha felt a stab of pain before she shook it off, she was on this mission to stop Mr. Parks from discovering that the article in which he was trying to publish would expose a world that wasn’t ready to be a part of the Muggle community, even if that had meant having a fight with Harriet on how she wasn’t going to be there, for the third year in a row, for her birthday.

 

“Isn’t her father going to be there?” She flinched under the glare directed at her and grabbed a glass of wine from one of the passing waiters.

 

“Fury sent him on mission to California, Barton is on a mission too. Dumbledore has sent me here and as you are here too that means she’s alone.” Natasha wasn’t going to insult the man by saying that Fury would be there, for they both knew how much Harriet would stay away from him on her birthday. Natasha also remembered that Maria was sent to check the base in the Mojave Desert, although she had no idea what was so important about a satellite base.

 

“I’m sure she’ll find a way to spend it with someone.” Natasha replied before nodding at the scowling man, and disappearing to Mr. Parks’ side. She had the next few hours to get the man drunk, give him the hallucinogen in a syringe on her thigh, erase all of the data on his article and then leave, taking all evidence with her. She sighed as she listened to the man laugh beside her and wished she was with her friend, apologising for not being there.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Clint and Harriet appeared to be attached at the hip as they were always found together, either in the Archery range or one of their rooms, always laughing and joking a generally having a good time. So it came as a surprise when they’d heard that Natasha was back, but hadn’t come to see them, when they had seen it in the files that Harriet had hacked the green eyed girl had practically ran from the room to find their other friend (Clint just rolled his eyes and stopped the laptop from crashing to the ground).

 

When Clint had finally caught up to the young witch he was a little confused as to why they were in the hanger bay and there was a crowd forming, as well as raised voices towards the centre (oh, how he hated being on the ground right then).

 

“Τι εννοείτε όταν λέτε πως φεύγεις” ( _what do you mean when you say that you’re leaving?)_ Clint sighed, if they were talking in Greek it meant that Harriet didn’t want the whole of the compound knowing the subject they were talking about, he looked at the people around him and knew that they probably had a good enough idea. Harriet was lucky that only a few knew Greek as well as she and Natasha did (Clint only knew because he’d been dragged along to the lessons).

 

“Έχω μια άλλη αποστολή” ( _I have another mission_ ) Clint watched Harriet glare, and in the back ground there was a small explosion, the operatives around him scattered knowing that this probably wasn’t something they really wanted to watch at the cost of their lives. He just leaned against a stack of crates and waited, Harriet would need a shoulder to cry on when all of this was over.

 

“Μια άλλη αποστολή, και ελπίζοντας ότι δεν θα ξέρω θα ήταν εδώ, έτσι ώστε να μπορεί να γλιστρήσει μακριά σαν ένα δειλό” ( _Another mission, and hoping that I will not know you were here, so you can slip away like a coward_ ) Natasha looked up from where she was checking her bags and glared at the young woman.

 

“I am not a coward; I didn’t want you to know I was here because I didn’t want you to come looking for me. I will not stay, I’ve had this mission lined up for weeks, and I knew that you would cling to me like the baby you are if you had found out before hand.” Harriet jerked as if she’d been slapped before she ran past Clint and away from Natasha.

 

“Wrong move Widow, wrong move.” Clint said quietly before he too followed the green eyed girl out, Natasha stood staring at the spot Harriet had stood, the memory of her friend crying not getting out of her head.

 

“Αυτό το κάνω για σας Χάριετ” ( _I do this for you Harriet_ )

 

~~^v^~~

 

Harriet leaned her head on the table and stared sightlessly into the flame that danced on top of the cupcake, she watched a trail of wax slide down the side and onto the green icing before she blew it out causing the room to fall into darkness. There was no happy voices cheering for her birthday, there was just her and her thoughts, she sighed before clicking her fingers. The room lit once more as she stood from the table and entered the living area, with a press of a button the news channel sprung up and she saw Tony Stark, a little battered but otherwise looking okay.

 

“I am Iron Man.” Her eyes widened as the camera zoomed in, but not before it had swung away (probably the cameraman getting the shock of his life) to show her father stood to the side and on his phone. She sat frozen, not taking in anymore of what was being said, this was why S.H.I.E.L.D had been more active, and this was why her father was away most of the time. Her eyes narrowed, Fury was going to get more than coloured hair and eye patches when she was through with him, if that Cyclops could finally decide on a name for her she’d be able to do what the other’s did, maybe even help them. She scowled before turning to her phone that had been going off for the past few seconds.

 

“Coulson.”

 

“ _Happy Birthday Harriet_.”

 

“Dad” She looked back at the screen to see the camera had zoomed out to a wider angle and Tony Stark was being lead from the room by her father, his earpiece noticeable before the door closed, “How is California?”

 

“ _It’s… you’ve seen the news_.” She hummed in response as the camera continued to follow, somehow managing to get past the guards, “ _I’ll be asking Fury to send you here, Miss. Potts wishes to meet you and I’m sure you’ll want to take apart the Iron Man suit._ ”

 

“ _To take apart the suit would be a violation of my rights_ ” was heard in the background and Harriet smiled.

 

“That would be a lovely birthday present dad, although I’m not sure that Mr. Stark would like that.” Her phone buzzed against her ear, “I’ll let you go, so you can ask Fury to let me come and see you. The mission has ended after all. Thanks for the call.”

 

“ _You’re welcome kiddo, and happy birthday_.” She smiled before hearing the dial tone and looked at the screen to see she had multiple messages.

 

_Happy Birthday Harriet, sorry I can’t be there – Hawkeye_

_Don’t eat all of your cake at once; I don’t want to have to give you potions for indigestion – Severus_

_Chin up; I’ll give you your present when I get back, just save me some cake, okay? – Hill_

_I’m sorry; there should be a small package on the side by the door. I hope you like it – BW Natasha_

Harriet smiled before sending thank you texts and walking to the sideboard by the door, there was a small black box with a spider design (how had she not noticed it before?), she shook her head before opening it and ginning at the set of keys to her very own motorbike, a Harley Davidson Softail Blackline. The present slightly made up for the lack of friends and family for her birthday this year.


	8. Chapter 7

Harriet Coulson: Avenger

Chapter 7

When Harriet was a little girl she always knew that she was different, not my father’s and Agent and yours isn’t different, just different. It had happened the day she’d levitated a doll out of Tom Hiddlston’s hands and given it back to the girl who had been crying beside her. Her teacher (Mr. Asgard) had told her to come inside, his green eyes alight with curiosity, at the time she’d been scared but looking back she remembered how the man had seemed cool and encouraged the mischief the children would get up too.

 

She’d spent the whole of lunch talking to the teacher, trying to answer the questions he had for her and hoping he wouldn’t call her father over the weird thing she’d done. When she’d told him that, in her little voice, he’d laughed (and it was a lovely laugh even if it was slightly manic) before reassuring her that what she’d done would be their little secret. She’d liked having secrets with Mr. Asgard because he could do weird things too so she’d been devastated when the class were told that Mr. Asgard wasn’t going to be their preschool teacher anymore. It was one secret he’d never shared with her.  

 

When her father had seen the first burst of accidental magic, she’d cried knowing that she probably wasn’t going to get the acceptance that she had had with her teacher, but Phil had just hugged her and said it was okay they could get more plates and glasses, both too worried about the other to realise the room had floating objects flying through the air and once they were both calm he’d proceeded to clean the cut on her shoulder (it had scarred and crossed over another that she’d received when she was three). It wasn’t until she was 9 that she found out that all she’d done as a child was normal for magically inclined children, that she wasn’t different she was special. Just like Mr. Asgard had told her she was all those years ago.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Harriet Coulson woke to her clock blaring at her, telling her it was time to leave as the quinjet would wait for no one and she had to be in California later that day. She ignored the fact that it was too god damn early and instead wondered why she’d dreamt of her preschool teacher, she’d almost forgotten him; although, as she looked at one of the photos on her wall, he had been the best teacher she’d ever had and the only person she’d never been able to trace.

 

With a shake of her head she got ready and within minutes she was aboard a quinjet and getting the hell away from Fury and his smiling attacks of doom, the man had thought smiling at her because she had no one on base to be with would be a good way to spend time with her (it wasn’t, she just walked calmly and briskly in the opposite direction). As the ground and distance was being shortened by the quinjets speed, Harriet found her mind wondering back to her dream and the man who she’d been sure she’d seen on her last day of school, although she wasn’t completely sure and even though her memory was good she wasn’t that good. She’d always wanted to meet the man again, even if it was just to answer all of those question’s she’d never been able to before, or even to ask a few of her own.

 

Her eyes drifted closed as her mind wandered to how the conversation would have gone had she’d been 17 instead of 4.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Tony Stark was an impatient man, especially when Agent Coulson continued to just stare across the room refusing to engage in any sort of conversation with him, he’d been told only a few moments ago that another Agent was on their way to talk to him. Tony had hoped he’d be able to escape but unfortunately due to the glare he received from Pepper (and his avid curiosity to know exactly who this new Agent was) he hadn’t gotten very far, he looked towards his assistant to find her sat drinking a mug of coffee in no hurry to fill the silence with conversation, it was frustrating.

 

“An Agent Coulson is at the door sir, should I let them in?” Tony frowned at J.A.R.V.I.S’s automated voice and looked towards the silent man by the wall, was this new Agent a relation or was Coulson a generally used name like Smith was with the CIA?

 

“That would be nice Jarvis.” Tony looked at Pepper, who continued to ignore him; he felt like throwing a hissy fit at not being spoken to, (Nobody ignored Tony Stark!) he heard the clear footsteps of someone heading towards them. From the sound of it, it was someone in military standard boots of average height, possibly a woman, and then the doors opened and he was struck by the greenest eyes he’d ever seen. He wondered if they were contacts, as the young woman scanned the room and then walked towards Pepper who had stood upon her entrance.

 

“Hello Miss. Potts, I’m Agent Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D, I was the person that Agent Coulson was talking to when you made that press release.” Pepper nodded with a smile as she took the hand of the teenager in front of her, she was a little confused as to her relation to Phil Coulson and a little perplexed as to why the girl had completely ignored Tony, she didn’t look towards him knowing that there was probably metaphorical steam coming from his ears at the lack of attention he was receiving.

 

“It’s nice to meet you Agent Coulson, although I have no understanding as to why you are here.” Pepper was taken aback at the bright smile she received.

 

“I’ve been watching this situation closely; I brought stock in Stark Industries when you were at your lowest because I’m sure to make a profit in the next few weeks now that people want to be backing Iron Man. I’m also interested in the way the suit works, I guess you could say that engineering is one of my hobbies and I like taking things apart to see how they’re made.”

 

“The Iron Man suit is a highly delicate piece of equipment that has to be carefully handled. Which means to even move it to a space where you could work on it would independently cause the equipment to fail and even be unusable.” Tony interjected quickly and gained the attention of the green eyed girl, “I’m Tony Stark.” He held out his hand.

 

“I know who you are Mr. Stark, and from the footage I’ve seen of your endeavours as Iron Man I can tell you that a little tinkering would not upset the basic structure or delicacies of the electronics or the overall shape of the suit. Trust me I have an engineer’s degree.” Phil had to turn his laugh into a cough as he watched his daughter go head to head with the egotistical genius, it was true that Harriet barely socialised with those outside of her circle but that didn’t mean she couldn’t quip with the best of them, he looked towards Pepper to see her hiding a smile.

 

“And I’m a genius, so doesn’t that make me the more trustworthy?” Harriet blinked before smiling once more.

 

“That you are Mr. Stark, and I’m sure there are many that bow to that greatness, but I work and live with spies and assassins so I’m sorry if I’m not immediately stooping to kiss your feet.” It was Tony’s turn to blink this time, while Harriet continued to smile at him; a battle of wills was being fought with their eyes.

 

“I really like her. Now Agent Coulson and Coulson, that’s going to get confusing, fast, why don’t we head to the kitchen? I’m sure you’re both hungry, we all did miss breakfast today.” Pepper paused in herding the two S.H.I.E.L.D Agents from the room to face Tony again, “Tony, are you coming?”

 

Tony Stark shook himself before nodding, there was something about the new Agent that didn’t agree with him, and he wasn’t feeling that way just because she’d threatened to take apart his suit (he was sure that was a violation of his constitutional rights). Phil just grinned at his daughter when she caught his eye, and from the answering grin she returned, she was having fun, a lot of fun; although Phil wished his daughter would tone down on the sarcasm (it wouldn’t do to have Fury showing up because of something she’d said).


	9. Chapter 8

** Harriet Coulson: Avenger **

** Chapter 8 **

 

Pepper didn’t really know what to make of the girl, who was continuing to annoy Tony by moving around his lab and touching everything that she could (even if Tony kept hitting the girls’ hands away from his things, or moving bits before they could be touched). Her gaze moved towards the stoic man who was keeping a close eye on both Harriet and Tony, with a frown she moved over to Agent Coulson and leaned on the wall next to him.

 

“She’s exactly like Tony” her voice was quiet and from the twitch at the corner of the Agents mouth she knew he’d heard her over the tumbling of equipment onto the floor that Tony had tried to save after Harriet had breezed past.

 

“Not really. She’s just good and mimicking mannerisms.” Pepper tilted her head and then smiled, she remembered back to the meeting they’d had upstairs and how the girl had been so much different, it was like having a play done in front of you with a script that no one knew.

 

“Must be a good trait for Agent’s to have.” She commented as Tony’s raised voice was heard as Harriet lifted the hood to one of his precious cars, the girl was about to lean over before Tony slammed the bonnet down giving Harriet a cocky grin. She swallowed a giggle at how Tony looked (he was chasing after the girl who had turned towards the suits once again), it was exactly how Pepper always felt after spending long periods of time with the man.

 

“It is, but she wouldn’t be my Harriet if she wasn’t antagonistic and prone to mischief, she’d just be someone else’s daughter.” Pepper ginned mentally, she now knew of the relationship the two Coulson’s, she caught Tony’s eye and the man nodded while steering the curly haired girl away from the suit that had pride of place near the wall.

 

“You can’t keep me away from it forever; you have to learn to share some time.” Tony’s eye twitched minutely as he continued to manhandle the teenager away from his things, he’d realised very early on that she was mimicking his mannerisms and personality traits, he’d wondered how anyone put up with him and realised it was due to them being used to it by now (and his stubbornness).

 

“I don’t play well with other people in my sandbox, now I’ve shown you the lab isn’t it about time we get on with whatever business we have to discuss. I’m a very busy man and I have a lot of important things to do.” Tony turned the teenager towards Pepper and Agent Coulson, “Isn’t that right, Pepper.”

 

“You know as well as I do that you have no appointments for today and that we have a few days to go over what the two Agents have to say.” Pepper watched the smirk move across Harriet’s face as the girl ducked under the arms Tony was using to move her towards the stairs, and walk back over to the suit, green eyes seeming to dissect it.

 

“Thanks for the help Miss. Potts.” Tony muttered under his breath as he turned and then ran across the room to slap Harriet’s hands away from touching a part of the suit that would have caused an explosion. Pepper heard a snort from beside her and turned to see Phil Coulson with his hand covering his mouth as laughter caused his body to shudder; she smiled and turned back to the best kind of entertainment she could have hoped for: Tony trying to keep a curious teenager away from his things.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Harriet had known three minutes into her act that she wasn’t fooling anyone, especially one Mr. Tony Stark of Stark Industries, but she continued to play the part of a younger and more inquisitive Tony in the hopes that she’d get at least A reaction from him, and from the way he kept following her and treating her like a troublesome child she was getting one, a very amusing one according to the smiles Pepper was trying to hide.

 

“Just what do you wan- Hey! Put that down! That’s not finished.” Harriet smirked as she put down the little engine part and turned to face the man that she knew was going to be one of the members of an Avengers Initiative that was only slightly less classified than the Tesseract project, whatever that was.

 

“I’ve found myself with a lot of time to kill this year and I need a job.”

 

“You already have one Agent Coulson.” Tony replied with a weary look in his eye, finally they were talking about something and he wasn’t chasing her around his lab like an idiot.

 

“Details.” She waved her hand in the air before picking up another piece of engine, she noticed the slight tightening of Tony’s body and examined the part more closely as she continued, “And I need something else to do. Fury wouldn’t trust me on a mission, hell I wouldn’t trust me on a mission.” She covertly looked up at Tony through her lashes, “I don’t play well with others (it was a complete lie but Tony wouldn’t be able to tell, she had been trained in the art of lying her whole life) but I’m a mean mechanic and I know that there is a few things you could do with that suit of yours that other’s would only dream of.” She watched Tony’s face and knew that she had him, this was going to be a piece of cake, plus it kept her out of Fury’s hair, well if he had any, and she knew for a fact that her father was stationed to stay with Tony for the foreseeable future.

 

“I don’t play well with other’s” Tony repeated and she rolled her eyes, hadn’t she just said that she didn’t either.

 

“But what better way to learn more than to have a competitive edge in the work place, a way to bounce ideas and theories around until the early hours of the morning.” She stepped forward so that she was in Tony’s personal space. She looked at the glowing sphere in the man’s chest, stepping forward she tapped the mini arc reactor in his chest before stepping back and putting the engine part down, Tony blinked a few times before looking at her and she smiled.

 

“I take my coffee black, with two sugars. Make sure you don’t forget.” Harriet blinked, her smile slipping slightly. She’d been out smarted and in all honesty she didn’t really care, but she couldn’t let Tony win. Losing wasn’t in her nature (or Tony’s).

 

“Are you sure it’s not salt?” Tony was just about to reply as she turned to the two who had been watching the exchange amidst giggles.

 

“Dad, do you think we could get me some things, I only packed the basics and I’m sure we’re going to be here for a long time.” Phil Coulson looked confused for a few seconds before his phone started beeping, a short phone call later and he was shaking his head.

 

“You hacked the system again Harriet, the Director’s not happy with you (Harriet just shrugged her shoulder’s while Phil turned to face Pepper). Mr. Stark, Miss. Potts, me and Agent Coulson will be gone for a few hours, when we return we’ll collect our things. It seems as if we’re staying here for a while.” Pepper nodded as the two Agents left the room (Harriet waving her goodbye); she looked at Tony who was walking around the room sorting his things out, although he was frowning before he turned to face her.

 

“Agent Coulson has a daughter?” Pepper snorted before laughing at the disgusted look on Tony’s face, she was sure the girl was adopted and Phil hadn’t done any of what Tony was imagining to create the girl.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Harriet sighed into her coffee mug, she’d been in Los Angeles for the better part of three months now, her father had returned to base a few days ago and Fury had been all for keeping her there so she could continue to watch Tony and his activities, it was a shame that today was her day off. She rather missed the genius’s sarcastic wit and mental capacity to keep up with all of the scientific jargon that came out of her mouth randomly, she smiled before taking a sip of the black liquid that she held cradled in her hands.

 

Here she was, sat in a coffee shop wishing she was back at work, while her Boss was out with the military helping them with a training exorcise (at least that was the cover story), the philanthropist was actually trying to talk Rhodes out of taking one of his suits for military purposes, she snorted delicately into her mug before taking another sip and then closing her eyes. It’d been fun working with Tony over the past months; even if she had started off by making his coffee and being a gopher. It had been all in good fun, a way to figure each other out and in Tony’s way, getting to know each other and their quirks.

 

Just as Harriet had predicted Stark Industries stocks had flown through the roof after Tony had announced his super-hero status (although Harriet called him the Super-Zero as a joke, Pepper had found it amusing).

 

Opening her eyes she realised she still needed to tell Tony about the Avengers Initiative, Fury had given the go ahead a few hours ago for her to tell him about it, and to give him the information packet that she’d received that morning. Her green gaze fell on her messenger bag with all the classified information in and she sighed, there was no way Tony was going to go for it (he’d probably call it Fury’s super-secret boy-band).

 

“Such a big sigh for one as young as yourself.” Harriet looked up into eyes as green as her own, and a face that had a haunted her dreams many months ago.

 

“Mr. Asgard.”

 

The man smiled and sat in the seat opposite her, placing his cappuccino on the table, “It’s been a long time Miss. Coulson, I wasn’t sure if you’d recognise me anymore.”

 

“Not that you’ve aged a day, sir.” She replied, her mind already coming up with the many escape routes available to her and the easiest way to distract the man in front of her so she could make an escape. All of her instincts were telling her to run, and run far.

 

“True, the time has been kind to me.” He looked into her face and his smile turned a little mischievous, “I’ve been in a place of magic and mystery, have been since our little conversation all those years ago. Tell me, did you ever find the answers to those questions?”

 

“I did, sir, did you ever find the answers to yours?” Harriet took another sip of coffee as she studied the man who mirrored her actions, this took her back to the classroom of her preschool and the cartons of milk they’d shared every lunch, talking of their theories.

 

“More or less.” He tilted his head to the side, as if listening to something, before smiling at her again, “You’re now of an age, Miss. Coulson, where we can introduce ourselves as adults.” He extended his hand across the table, “I’m Loki Asgard.”

 

“Harriet Coulson.” She replied, her hand gripping his for a moment before she brought it back to her mug, she took one last sip before returning it to its saucer, “You must forgive me but I have a class at the University in a few minutes, and I wouldn’t want to be late.”

 

Loki nodded and took another sip, Harriet felt his eyes watch her until she was out of sight, if she wasn’t convinced before she was now, that she had seen him at the last day of school and he’d been talking to the Sensei although back then he’d been wearing armour of gold, black and green. Not the gray suit with a gray and green scarf that he’d been wearing in the coffee shop, shaking her head she hefted the strap on her shoulder and made her way to her car, she had a meeting with Tony and then a long distance call to her father, she was sure that there was something about her old teacher’s name she should recognise from somewhere. 


	10. Chapter 9

Harriet Coulson: Avenger

Chapter 9

“Mr. Stark is not back yet Miss. Coulson.” Harriet rolled her eyes at the AI’s comment, she knew that Tony wouldn’t be back and the only reason she was there was because of the meeting with her old teacher. She frowned, trying to figure out why he hadn’t aged in 14 years, he wasn’t a vampire (she’d met one once as he was her DADA teacher at Durmstrang), but he wasn’t anything else that could be immortal either.

 

She entered the lab and watched as the machines all turned towards her she smiled into the camera before moving to her area and dropping her bag on her chair, looking at her scattered notes on anything Tony allowed her to work on (which wasn’t much as she was still a gopher), she sighed. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, if Tony wasn’t back yet it was probably because he forgot about their meeting and to be perfectly honest she didn’t want to talk to Tony, her gaze fell on her phone and she bit her lip, turning to her laptop she began hacking into S.H.I.E.L.D’s system.

 

“I believe that is illegal Miss. Coulson.”

 

“Oh hush Jarvis, it’s not like you haven’t done this type of thing for Tony.” Harriet grinned as she got past the encrypted files and into the mainframe, within a few seconds she was looking at the screens of all the cameras. Her green gaze flittered around until she found one of a meeting that had her father, Fury, Natasha and Clint in. With a tilt of her head she closed in on that system and began to record what was being said, “Jarvis, do you think you could text Tony for me, and tell him I’m not going to be around for a while”

 

“I can do that Miss. Coulson but where should I say you are going.”

 

“I don’t know; tell him I’m heading to Afghanistan.” She smirked as she backtracked out of S.H.I.E.L.D’s system and shut her laptop down, “Ah, and tell him there’s some info on his desk that Fury wants him to look at.” She packed her things and dropped the manila file on Tony’s desk.

 

“Message sent. Is there anything else Miss. Coulson?”

 

“There is one more thing. Call me Harriet, Jarvis; Miss. Coulson makes me sound old.”

 

“As you wish Miss. Harriet, stay safe.”

 

“I always am Jarvis, I always am.” Harriet smirked as she left the house and got into her car, within moments she was speeding down the drive; her in car phone calling the nearest airport. She needed to get away, to find information on why her old teacher was still the same as always. This required research, and research required being under everyone’s radar. It also meant that call to her father had to be postponed for a while.

 

~~^v^~~

 

“Harriet’s missing?” Tony nodded at the man in front of him, he’d received a message from Jarvis saying that Harriet was heading to Afghanistan and had flown straight back (even with Rhodey shouting abuse at him for denting the new runway, it’s not like Tony wasn’t going to pay to get it fixed), he’d called Agent Coulson as soon as he’d hit his Malibu home and found the teenager gone.

 

“That’s what I just said.” Phil rolled his eyes before taking in the clean space that was once Harriet’s desk, he frowned; Fury had been notified of a security breach a few moments before Tony had called to say Harriet was missing.

 

“And she hasn’t been to the airport?” Tony indicated towards the screens that were running facial recognition scans using a picture of Harriet at one of Tony’s charity balls, there’d been a lot of speculation that the two had been dating until Harriet had smiled and told them she was actually in love with Pepper, but couldn’t do anything because technically Pepper was one of her co-worker’s. Tony had turned to her and asked if he could watch which caused Pepper to blush and paparazzi to back off (even if they kept the story running for a few weeks with the scandalous news). It also took a few weeks of accidentally (purposefully) destroying things in the lab to get Tony to figure out that Harriet had lied, which had Tony sulking for weeks after.

 

Phil didn’t want to think of the glamor’s Harriet could use to escape the country undetected, hell his daughter could travel magically from the country and he wouldn’t know about it, at least not until he’d get a call or she’d return with a souvenir.

 

“Could you keep looking? I’m going to call in a few friends to help.” Tony rolled his eyes and turned towards one of the cars he was building, as Phil walked out of the lab already calling Fury on his cell.

 

_“What is it Agent Coulson?”_

 

“Harriet’s gone.”

 

He didn’t even listen to what Fury had to say before ending the call and texting both Clint and Natasha, even though they had their own missions they’d be keeping an eye out for their friend as well, getting into his car Phil hoped they found her before Fury blew a gasket.

 

~~^v^~~

 

“I don’t want to sound pessimistic, sir, but if she doesn’t want to be found I don’t think we’ll find her. We’ve been running the scans for a few hours now”

 

“Are you telling me there is something you cannot do Jarvis?” Tony turned from fiddling with the beginnings of a new suit, the AI’s close to him moved back slightly.

 

“I’ll begin running scans on all surveillance footage in the country.” Tony nodded before frowning, his gaze moved towards his new sunroof to see it was dark, he hadn’t even noticed. His gazed fell on the file that Harriet had told him to read before he’d returned, the Avengers Initiative was all well and good but when was there ever going to be a use for it. Plus, as he’d told Harriet all those years ago, he didn’t play well with others, well not anyone that wasn’t used to him anyway.

 

“Jarvis, could you find out what she was doing before she returned to the lab?”

 

“Yes Sir, would you like me to send the results to your PDA?”

 

“That would be best Jarvis.” Tony replied before he left the lab altogether and headed towards his other garage, where all of his completed cars were. He needed to clear his head and what better way to do that than to drive really far, really fast.

 

“Will do, Sir.”

 

~~^v^~~

 

Phil Coulson remembered the first time he’d ever lost his daughter, he’d been asked to meet Fury at Mojave Desert where S.H.I.E.L.D had placed the Tesseract years before, he’d had clearance to know about the device but due to unforeseen circumstances he’d never been given the briefing until that day. He smiled at the Agent who was holding a three year old Harriet and began to walk down the corridor that lead to the steps that would take him to the Tesseract chamber; he’d known that Harriet had been staring at his back the whole time, and in hindsight he wished he’d taken her with him.

 

Phil looked at the blue cube that glowed in the centre of the piece of equipment, there was computer’s and cameras set up all around it monitoring every aspect of the unknown energy. He’d just been released from a de-briefing about the cube, no; the Tesseract and the tale of Captain America, the real tale, of a small kid from Brooklyn who helped win WWII. He continued to stare at the object before shaking his head and turning to find the agent who had his daughter, he hadn’t even made it to the first step when his name was called, looking up he saw the agent who he’d left Harriet with coming down the stairs.

 

“Agent Coulson, Harriet’s disappeared.” Phil blinked before pushing past the agent, taking the stairs two at a time he raced to the security room.

 

“I want you to all look for a small child, curly black hair, big green eyes, wearing black trousers and a green and grey stripped top.” He spoke quickly and scanned the screens as the other agents in the rooms manipulated the cameras to look around the base, no one spoke until there was a thunderous roar and the building shook slightly.

 

“What was that?” Phil asked as the other agents shrugged, he shook his head not wanting to imagine his daughter trapped somewhere scared, “Have you found her yet?”

 

“There’s something in the Tesseract room, it was the cause of the tremor.” Phil looked at the screen and caught a splash of black trapped under some rubble, his heart stopped for a moment as he recognised the curls. Running from the room he dodged around the other agents until he was back where he started, looking into the face of Fury who held a bleeding Harriet in his arms.

 

“Harriet?” Green eyes turned to face him, and he sucked in a breath at the streak of blood on the side of her face, “Harriet, it’s okay, dad’s got you.” taking the child from Fury he didn’t pay any attention as the Director called for a medic.

 

“’orry dad, just wanted to see you.” Phil held her close as the medics worked around him, leading them both to the medic bay and cleaning Harriet up. He felt ashamed that he’d left his daughter with someone else and she’d been hurt, he’d seen the large gash running across her shoulder and down her back from a piece of the rubble. For weeks after he wouldn’t let Harriet out of his sight, and it took for her sneaking off for him to loosen his grip on her.

 

Now, nearly 14 years later Phil Coulson was feeling that same dread that he’d had all those years ago, and even though Harriet had had training over the years he still felt that his little girl was going to be found under that rubble once more. Looking over the security feeds and facial recognition scans (that were running all of Harriet’s aliases as well as her normal look) he felt as helpless as the three year old Harriet had once been. His phone vibrated in his pocket and he struggled to remove it and look at the screen.

 

_Sorry dad, I just need to get away for a while, I love you – Harriet xx_

He grinned and then laughed as he ducked his head down and read the text over and over, and if a few tears leaked from his eyes the other Agent’s pretended not to notice.


	11. Chapter 10

Harriet Coulson: Avenger

Chapter 10

Clint hit his target several more times before throwing his bow away from him in frustration, he’d received a text saying that Harriet was MIA and had promptly destroyed the little piece of technology (as if it had been the mobiles fault Harriet had disappeared). His eyes rested on the punctured plastic and circuitry before he turned and stalked from the archery range, he’d just got back to base from his last mission and had gone in for a de-briefing for his next. He’d planned to join Harriet in Malibu for a few hours before heading off again, and this is what happened.

 

Agents moved away from the prowling man for their own safety, this was the first time any of them had seen the man unsettled. The Hawk was always calm and rational, not prowling the place like The Hulk, Clint turned into the main area to see the screens filled with different faces, each one connected to Harriet and her aliases. Not one of them had found her in the past 30 minutes, he growled, how hard was it to find one person when you had all their faces on display and an army of people looking? Bloody hard, obviously.

 

“Did you break your phone again?” Clint looked beside him to see Natasha; the woman was twisting her hands together; eyes scanning each of the screens hoping that they’d find their friend before disaster struck.

 

“It got in the way of my target.” Clint replied, and saw a slight lifting of Natasha’s mouth before it was gone again.

 

“We’re not going to find her. She doesn’t want to be found yet.” Clint sighed and leaned over the rail, he watched Agent Hill frantically type into one of the computer’s. He and Natasha were one of the select few that knew of the two girl’s secret friendship, and he felt a slight pain at the realisation that Maria had found out only when Fury had asked them to search for Harriet.

 

“Maybe, but I don’t want to think of the alternative.” And with that Clint left the main room and headed back to his archery range, he’d get a new phone as there was a chance the Harriet could try to contact him, well that and Fury would have his head if he didn’t have one. Natasha watched him leave before looking at the nearest computer screen, Harriet’s face looked back at her, and with a deep breath she left the room. They had to find Harriet, they just had to, and the base just wouldn’t be the same if they didn’t.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Agent Hill worked tirelessly in looking for her friend, she cursed again for her friend’s stupidity, didn’t the girl know that there was a whole government sector that would become the brunt of Fury’s fury as soon as the Cyclops realised that Harriet didn’t want to be found. She shook her head and typed a few more things into the computer in front of her, she had refused to answer any of Fury’s calls and she sighed as she realised she couldn’t stay away from the man for too long, she did work with him after all. Her earpiece buzzed and with a roll of her eyes she tapped it.

 

“Agent Hill.”

 

_“Yo! Would it be terribly presumptuous to think you’re the only one manning the computers at this time?”_

 

“Harriet! What the hell are you doing?”

 

_“So you are alone then. Could you hack the cameras where I am? Of course you can, what am I thinking?”_

 

“Where are yo- Wait, how the hell did you get from Malibu to JFK without anyone knowing?” Maria frowned at Harriet, who only grinned from the phone booth she was in and waved up at the camera, she sighed and looked around her.

 

_“Apparition is an amazing way of travelling instantly, but it does have its flaws. I cannot get out of the country without a little help.”_

“And you want me to do what, exactly?” Maria watched as Harriet’s grin grew wider.

 

_“I need your help hiding me until I get to my new destination. Don’t worry, I’ll continue to check in, I just need to do a few things. So, think you can help out an old friend?”_

“You have 15 minutes to get on a flight to Tokyo; I’ll hide any evidence of you going there. As soon as you hit Japanese soil you’re to change your appearance and get the hell out of dodge.” Maria was already typing away as Harriet grinned over the camera, put the phone down, and headed towards the gate that would take her to the plane she needed. Maria knew she was going to regret this later, but at that moment it was like she was a part of the mischief that followed Harriet everywhere. Hacking the cameras was easy, changing the footage was easy, and trying not to falter under Fury’s glare would be the hardest thing she’d have to do. Lucky she was almost practically immune to it, she smirked, and she’d probably been the only one Harriet had spoken to other than Phil Coulson.

 

~~^v^~~

 

“It seems she had a run in with an old teacher, sir.” Tony looked up from fiddling with his new suit and frowned.

 

“And how do you know it was an old teacher? Wait, did you hack a system without being asked?” Tony grinned and held a free hand to the reactor in his chest, “Why, Jarvis, you’re growing up!”

 

“Sir, I don’t think now is the right time for your humour. Miss. Harriet was last seen in Café Calypso with a Mr. Asgard. Checks show he was a pre-school teacher until he disappeared from the face of the earth, 14 years ago.” Tony leaned forward, pushing his chair over to his main desk so he could read the screen.

 

“Do we have an image of this guy?” Two pictures of a man that could have been Harriet’s biological father (if Tony hadn’t already seen the images of Harriet’s real parents he would have believed them to be related) popped onto the screen, one was of a class photo, and the other was from the coffee shop. There were no changes in the man’s appearance, even if it had been 14 years, and Tony found himself frowning once more.

 

“Jarvis find out where he is now, if he has anything to do with Harriet’s disappearance I want to know. I have a few calls to make.”

 

“Yes, sir.” Tony stood from his seat and headed out of his lab, bypassing Pepper’s questions he picked up his phone and called Coulson.

 

_“Agent Coulson.”_

 

“Hey, Agent, I got a lead on your girl. Does a Mr. Loki Asgard ring any bells?” there was silence and Tony waited while tapping his fingers on the table, Pepper stood to the side frowning slightly as she tapped her clipboard against her thigh.

 

_“He was Harriet’s pre-school teacher, disappeared a month before the end of the year, why?”_

 

“He’s back and spooked little green eyes enough to make her leave without telling anyone.” Tony held up a hand to silence whatever Pepper was going to ask, “Jarvis is finding out where he is at the moment, but there’s one thing that’s really weird about him.”

_“This coming from the man who has a giant magnet in his chest?”_

 

“This coming from the man who can supposedly keep track of anyone; apart from his daughter.” Tony paused, “Back to the point at hand, the teacher. He’s ageless.”

 

_“Ageless?”_

 

“Sir, I have the information you wanted, do you want me to send it to Agent Coulson?” Tony moved the phone away from his ear.

 

“If you would Jarvis.” He returned to his phone conversation, “Just look at what Jarvis is sending you and you’ll understand. Can’t find her anywhere, but at least we have a lead as to the reason she left.” He put the phone down before Agent Coulson could say anything else and turned to Pepper.

 

“Harriet’s missing?” Tony nodded and saw his assistant move to sit down suddenly, it seemed he wasn’t the only one to get attached to the snarky mischievous Agent (even if Tony still refused to admit he liked the green eyed girl).

 

“We’ll find her Pepper, even if I have to go bust a few caps as Iron Man.” Pepper just nodded and he turned to the mini bar to pour them a drink, he’d head down to the lab in a few moments to look over the information Jarvis had and then figure out where to go from there.

 

~~^v^~~

 

“Ah! Severus, there you are, my boy! We have a guest, a Miss. Alinda Vane.” Severus felt the urge to head back down into the dungeons, but as he’d been spotted it wouldn’t do well to run (Dumbledore had a habit of finding him at the most inopportune moments when he did), and so it was with a sigh and a sneer that he turned to the headmaster and the young woman stood a little behind him.

 

“Headmaster, is there really a need for me to know of this guest?” He watched as Dumbledore blinked and the smile diminished somewhat, he felt a surge of childish glee at causing the walking fashion disaster to lose some of his twinkle.

 

“It is alright Alboos, ‘e probably doesn’t recognise me. Ve met at a Potions conference in ‘ungary.” Severus blinked at the mixed accent, as if the person couldn’t decide if they were Bulgarian or French, and then blinked again. He’d seen this person, but what was she doing in Hogwarts.

 

“Ah, Miss. Vane, yes, I remember. You were very vocal about the use of Polyjuice Potion being taught to students of a lower grade and not just 7th years.” He was awarded with a blinding smile off the platinum haired woman, and he had to blink again to realise this was all just an act really.

 

“I vos lead to believe zat a 2nd year student could already brew it.” Albus looked at the two and smiled, before Severus could respond.

 

“Yes, you can catch up nicely. Severus you can walk our guest around the Castle, I’m going to be busy with Minerva.” Severus scowled, but nodded anyway and both he and Alinda watched the eccentric old man leave.

 

“Do you zink that ‘e’s gone to unstick some Lemon Drops?” Alinda queried before Severus grabbed her arm and dragged her all the way to his rooms, her ice blue eyes widening as she tried not to trip. Once in the room, Severus placed his strongest wards and privacy spells before turning to the woman sat on his bed.

 

“And just what the hell do you think you are doing!!!”

 

“And ‘ere I thought you vere smarter zan zis.” He continued to glare and Alinda sighed, her appearance quivered until she was back to her green eyes, tanned skin, and curly black hair, “I need help, of the magical kind and I couldn’t exactly owl you from Malibu.”

 

“Malibu? I thought you lived in DC, or wherever else S.H.I.E.L.D has you?” Severus frowned and received a glare from the metamorphagus.

 

“I’ve been working with Tony Stark, he’s burning his way through a ton of Palladium and if he doesn’t slow down he’s not going to live much longer, of course he hasn’t figured it out yet, but it’s only a matter of time. Although he probably knows now, it has been a few weeks.”

 

“Harriet.”

 

“What? Oh yeah, so I need help. How can a person have the same appearance, and age for a little over 14 years but not be a vampire or any other immortally frozen being?” Severus froze, Harriet had obviously been around a genius who spoke a mile a minute because he hardly understood anything she’d just said, and he was still reeling from her being in England, the one place she should never be until she was ready.

 

“Are you sure he’s no-“

 

“I was with him for a full ten minutes, I’m positive. There were no glamour’s, no metamorphic skills, and no outside magical help. It was all natural, but it’s obviously not Muggle.”  Severus glared at being interrupted but the 17 year old, still sat on his bed, just brushed it off, he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

 

“Does your father know you’re here?” He watched her smile turn sheepish, “Harriet!”

 

“I sent him a text saying I needed to get away. I’ve fallen off the grid; they can’t track me with the other aliases they have no idea about. Plus dad’s bound to realise that as a Metamorph I can change my appearance more that they know, it’s not like I’m going to stop contact completely, just not long enough for them to track me.” Severus moved to his drinks cabinet and pulled himself a fire-whiskey, no wonder he’d received that frantic owl earlier.

 

“He could be from another realm, another world.”

 

“And that is why Alinda Vane is here, she’s a Potions specialist with a hobby of looking into other realms and worlds. Hogwarts have an extensive Library that may hold information that she hasn’t found anywhere else.” Severus sighed and downed his drink; Lily’s daughter was going to be the death of him.

 

“Well let’s get Miss. Vane to the Library then.” He watched as Harriet grinned widely, and her appearance changed as she moved to hug him in thanks.

 

“Zank you Severos.”

 

“Just don’t get used to it. I swear I use up all my good will on you and that is why I treat the students like idiots.”

 

“Zey are idiots Severos, and cannot vork a Potion to save zeir life.” Severus ginned, he had to agree with her, a Neville Longbottom came to mind and he shuddered, the boy should never be let out of a greenhouse, let alone into a school.


	12. Chapter 11

Harriet Coulson: Avenger

Chapter 11

“Remind me again vhy I chose ‘ogwarts for zis research.”

 

“Because, Alinda, Hogwarts has an extensive Library and you might find something that you’ve never come across before.” Severus deadpanned while closing his Potions text, his obsidian eyes looked at the blonde girl hidden completely behind a stack of books pertaining to other realms and worlds.

 

“Ah. You are right Severos, as alvays.” Alinda sighed as she closed yet another old tome, looking over at the elder man she ginned, “Vot are you reading?”

 

“A book.” Alinda rolled her eyes, “A Potions book.”

 

“Any good?” Severus nodded before looking back at his book, “I zink I found him” His head shot up and he stared at her while she pushed a book towards him, it was open on a page about Norse God’s.

 

“His name vos Loki Asgard.” Severus raised an eyebrow, “Yeah, not very careful vos he? Anyvay, Asgard is the realm vhere Odin, his vife Frigga, and zeir sons Zor and Loki reside.”

 

“Thor and Loki, the God’s of Thunder and Chaos?”

 

“Loki is also the God of mischief, but in affect, yes.” Severus blinked at her, “Zeir appearances are nothing like ze drawings, but I believe it is him.”

 

“So after three months of study you think you have the answers, that this Loki is the one from Norse mythology?” Harriet nodded and Severus sighed, “Don’t you think you should at least get a second opinion, maybe travel to Norway, Sweden and those places?” Harriet rolled her eyes before replying.

 

“I am going to look into it a little more, maybe vith Gringotts. Zank you Severos, it vos nice seeing you again.” Severus nodded and watched as she left, his mind reeling at the thought of Norse God’s coming to earth and teaching. Shaking his head he immersed himself in the world of Potions, it didn’t do to dwell on dreams of seeing the 9 realms that was often spoken of in Norse Mythology. Magic was good, but not _that_ good.

 

~~^v^~~

 

“It has been three months, and we haven’t gotten anywhere. I’m afraid we’re going to have to either stop the search or only have a few looking for her. It’s just not possible to keep this up, even with the information Mr. Stark has been handing us. We get regular updates, and that should be enough.”

 

Phil Coulson sighed, and rubbed a hand over the stubble that covered his face, he had to agree with Fury. Harriet had contacted him via texts, that lead back to a phone box (and everyone knew public phones didn’t send texts), everything about Loki Asgard had lead nowhere, and the man had disappeared from the face of the earth once more.

 

“I agree sir, but I will run searches when I’m not on missions.” Fury nodded, he knew that if Coulson didn’t do anything to look for his daughter he’d be an Agent down due to stress and a whole heap of medical terms he didn’t want to consider.

 

“You’re assigned the Stark case again, but I need you to head to the Mojave Desert base to check up on things there first. Natasha is already shadowing Stark so you can take a few days off to get yourself sorted.” Phil nodded and then left, Fury watched with his one eye before sighing and turning to his computer, with a touch it roared to life and Harriet’s face appeared on the screen.

 

_“Thank you, I’ll be sure to check in again but the info you wanted from Dr. Karr is being sent to you as we speak, he’ll continue to trace Dr. Banner but I still think that following the guy is a bad idea.”_ Fury nodded as the connection ended, his eye flicked to his tracking system and a message he was beginning to hate flashed.

 

_Unable to track due to connection failure_

 

Harriet Coulson was one Agent that he’d wished he’d paid more attention to.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Anthony Howard Stark had no idea what to do, he’d spent the last three months keeping the whole of America safe while trying to look for one of his employee’s (and her old teacher) while trying not to die from the toxicity he was receiving from the Palladium cores he used in his chest piece as well as keeping the military away from his suits (they were his, not the publics!).

 

“Sir, there is an incoming call from a H.C Shields.” Tony sighed before tapping the side of his drink; he nodded before turning to face his computer screens.

 

_“Tony! You won’t believe this. I was just in the neighbourhood when I thought; I hope there’s a Stark Expo this year.”_

 

“Harriet!?!” There was a laugh from the girl before Jarvis began tracking the call.

 

_“Duh! Who did you think it was I gave you a clue with my name? Now I can’t talk long, the lines not secure, I just wanted you to know that having a Stark Expo may give you the inspiration to fix your Palladium problem.”_

 

“What do you m-Wait! How do you know about the Palladium?”

 

_“Tony I worked closely with you for three months, admittedly it was just being there to serve you coffee but still, did you really think you could hide that from me, a trained S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent?”_ Tony smiled and watched as Jarvis continued to hone in on Harriet’s location.

 

_“Look Tony, just check some of those boxes you won’t go near, maybe you’ll find a clue to fixing your body.”_ There was a sigh, _“See you around Tony, and don’t let that ego take over my space too much.”_ The line went dead.

 

“Did you get her?” Tony asked; his eyes glued to his computer screens hoping he could make a call to Agent Coulson telling him where his daughter was, the man had been hit hard with her disappearance, even with the occasional calls and messages.

 

“Call trace incomplete, sir” Tony banged his head against a desk before he sat up.

 

“Jarvis, I think we should do something to cheer everyone up.”

 

“What is that sir?”

 

“Have a Stark Expo of course!”

 

“Of course sir, what else that would cheer everyone up apart from an event named after you.”

 

“I resent that Jarvis.”

 

“You always do, sir.” Tony smiled before he began to plan a yearlong expo; he knew that nothing in the boxes that Harriet had mentioned would solve his problem, so the next best thing was to plan something for everyone to remember him by. Which meant he’d also sign over Stark Industries to Pepper, she’d like that, she already ran his company anyway, so why not make it official.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Harriet grinned at the screen above her, it seemed that after her last call Tony had decided to schedule a yearlong Stark Expo (probably to try and lure her in, and to boost his ego at the same time) and was also racing his own cars in the grand prix (or at least the ones he’d sponsored). She frowned, he’d done all that, and handed his company over to Pepper, but hadn’t even bothered to look deeper in those boxes to find a cure for himself. He was a stupid genius! Shaking her head she laughed softly to herself, light lilac eyes glinting, before turning and walking away, she could see Happy stood by the car like always and knew that Natasha was somewhere under the guise of being Natalie Rushman, she was also sure that Tony had left Pepper somewhere probably having a heart attack over everything.

 

“Oh my God!”

 

She turned back around to see a man splitting a car in half (was that an electricity based whip?) and her heart lodged itself in her throat, her eyes stayed glued to the screen as she watched Tony take action as Iron Man, a small smile flittering across her lips before she disappeared into the crowd. She’d hacked S.H.I.E.L.D’s database the night before (so she was up-to-date and one step ahead of them as always) and had a message to deliver to Natasha (it wasn’t like Fury wasn’t going to do it anyway, she was just speeding up the process), within moments she was next to the Russian and slipping the info into the woman’s pocket.

 

“Nos vemos en torno a Natasha.” _(See you around Natasha.)_

 

Natasha looked up into the crowd around her looking for her friend (although instinctively knowing she’d never find her, Harriet was too good to be caught), in the past few months no one had been able to find Harriet, and the girl always ended the calls before they could pinpoint her location (it frustrated everyone to no end, especially Clint who’d been going through phones like a starving man for food). Not able to find her friend in the crowd she was already sending a message off to Fury and Coulson that Harriet was still okay, that she was still around and watching them from afar, that Harriet had made contact in person for once.

 

“Manténgase Silueta Esmeralda segura.”    _(Stay safe Emerald Silhouette)_

 

Harriet stood from where she’d pretended to tie her shoe laces and grinned before heading towards her car. Sliding into the seat she sat there for a few moments and smirked, it seemed that she now had a code name, and how fitting, she started the car while putting in her earpiece, the sound of a number being called filled the silence of the car. Her appearance shimmered, taking on the appearance of Alinda Vane once again, speeding down the street she flicked her wrist and her wand slipped into her hand, with another wave her ID’s and passports were changing to her new appearance and name. She was returning to the States because she knew that after everything that had happened here in Monaco, she’d be needed, and she’d already been gone for too long.

 

“Jarvis, you wouldn’t be able to book me tickets to California would you, or even smuggle me in on the Stark Jet. Oh, and it’s for a Miss. Alinda Vane.”

 

_“Are you going to be returning for good this time Miss. Harriet.”_ She grinned as she changed lanes quickly and efficiently.

 

“I am Jarvis, but it’s a surprise birthday present for Tony, so don’t go spoiling it!” It was silent for a few moments and she thought that maybe Jarvis had ended the call (she wouldn’t put it was the AI)

 

_“You flight is booked and the info sent to your phone, it’ll be good for Mr. Stark to have you back. He’s become a mess, if I do say so myself.”_ Harriet bit her lip as she pulled into an abandoned lot and got out of the car, taking her bag out with her.

 

“I do make a good coffee, if I do say so myself. Did he look in those boxes?” She waved her hand over the car and it shrunk, with a grin she picked up the miniature and put it in her pocked before heading out of the abandoned lot and getting into the cab she’d called earlier.

 

_“No, he didn’t.”_

 

“I see.” She smiled at the driver and told him where she wanted to go, “Want me to trash a few of his toys?”

 

_“That would be fun to watch Miss. Harriet.”_

 

“It would be fun to do Jarvis. I’ll speak to you again when I land state side. Until then it’ll be our little secret.” She hung up and looked out of the window, taking a deep breath she decided that she wasn’t going to get any further on the Loki thing; the Goblins had said it was impossible to travel between realms, that no one survived. Ever. The veil in the Ministry proved that, so it was about time she stopped being a child and faced her issues instead of running, plus she missed her dad something terrible.


	13. Chapter 12

Harriet Coulson: Avenger

Chapter 12

After getting back from Monaco all Tony wanted to do was hide away for a while, maybe see if he could locate Harriet again now he didn’t have something to distract himself with. With a sigh he headed down into the lab, and sliding into his seat at his desk he started the process of waking up his computer.

 

“Wake up, Daddy’s home.” He clapped and his music began to blast through the speaker’s, the lights came on and he smiled as Jarvis showed him everything he’d been doing before he’d left for D.C, New York and then Monaco.

 

“Welcome home, sir.” Jarvis replied as the only AI that could speak back. There was a crash behind him and he sighed before turning to Dummy.

 

“You! (The robotic arm turned towards him knocking over the mixer, Tony rolled his eyes) I swear to God I’ll dismantle you. I’ll soak your motherboard and turn you into a wine rack.” He turned back to the computer and frowned at the drink he had to keep taking.

 

“Ah, poor Dummy, don’t worry I won’t let him hurt you. It’s nice to see something other than Jarvis with a personality.” Tony froze at the sound of someone’s voice, his chair spinning as he turned to face a smirking Harriet Coulson, although he was sure she’d done something to her hair as it was blonde, and was her eyes an icy blue?

 

“Welcome back Miss. Harriet. I must say it’s nice to see you again, although the next time you want a vacation please book it off.” Tony blinked at his computer screen, while Harriet laughed in response.

 

“I’ll be sure to remember that next time Jarvis, but for now let’s get down to business. Tony, check you palladium levels and then we’ll talk.” Tony once again blinked as Harriet moved past him to her desk, her hair was now black and her eyes were green.

 

“What tech are you using to change your appearance? Where the hell did you go? And will someone tell me why the hell Dummy is trying to do something that the Bridgeport’s already doing?” Harriet smiled and sat in her chair, her head tilting to the side.

 

“There is no tech, just magic. I went travelling, seeing the world, finding data. Dummy, come over here, I’m less likely to shout at you.” Tony watched at the robotic arm moved to Harriet’s desk and waited for her to tell it to do something.

 

“Magic?” Tony blinked before frowning in confusion, magic didn’t exist only science and that ideas.

 

“Check your blood toxicity and then we’ll talk about my super-powers” Harriet smiled and patted Dummy before speaking quietly to the robot, Tony turned back to the computer’s and did as he was told (he did have to check his levels again at some point), although his mind was brimming with questions.

 

“Wait, does your father know you’re back?”

 

“Yeah, I have to go back to D.C later.” She smiled softly, “I’m sort of grounded but I wanted to come here and see you. I did leave rather abruptly.” Tony just nodded before pricking his thumb and listening to Jarvis.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Phil Coulson looked at his cleanly shaved face in the mirror before his blue eyes found the reflection of the computer screen, he was back at the D.C base for a while and as he’d told Fury, he’d continue to look for his daughter. With a sigh he rubbed a hand over his face and straightened his tie, with a nod he faced the computer and sat in his chair.

 

It had been a few weeks on since Fury had cancelled the on-going search, believing that when Harriet was done doing what she had to do she’d be back. Phil didn’t want to admit it, but he was proud at how well his daughter was staying undetected it was a great trait to have as a spy. He frowned as he realised he hadn’t heard from his daughter since then either, even if the calls were short he’d been coming to expect them, hoping against hope that Harriet would stay on there long enough to finally be traced. He sighed and closed his eyes just before his phone started to beep at him, with a sigh he picked it up.

 

“Agent Coulson.”

 

_“Hey dad, long time no speak.”_ He sat up straighter, looking more alert than ever as he heard Harriet’s voice on the other end. He grabbed a few wires and plugged it into his device, the tracking program already trying to triangulate the call.

 

“Yeah kiddo, we agreed on weekly calls remember? So Fury didn’t start having fits and trying to smile at recruits. You know how traumatising it is for them.”

 

_“Fury needed someone to keep him on his toes and the recruits would have been fine after a few rounds of therapy.”_ Phil could hear the smile in her voice and smiled in response, at least his little girl (even if she wasn’t so little anymore) was alright, _“I’m coming home.”_

 

“You do realise that you’re going to be grounded, kiddo, I’m not letting you out of my sight. You’ll be followed by everything; people, cameras, dogs, tracking devices.”

 

_“I know dad, just like old times, right? Just let me go see Stark first, otherwise he’s bound to storm the base as Iron Man and blow everything up. There’s only so much I can fix with magic.”_ Phil frowned and then groaned at the thought of Tony Stark being anywhere near S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ, he also knew that what Harriet said was right, Tony probably would come looking for her if she didn’t see him at some point.

 

“Just as long as it’s a visit and not a holiday in which I’ll have to retrieve you.” Phil watched as the computer found the signal, it beeped and he frowned, there was no way Harriet was that close without anyone noticing. 

 

“I’ll come back here, I promise.” Phil blinked before looking towards the door where Harriet stood, her phone held in her hand by her hip. At least he thought it was Harriet, it was his daughter’s voice but he certainly wasn’t seeing his green-eyed dark haired little girl. It was a blonde haired blue eyed girl, who had the same fashion sense as his daughter.  He must have been silent for too long because the girls’ image shivered before he was seeing the true Harriet.

 

“You got a new alias.” He commented as she stepped into the room, the door closed behind her and he watched her progress towards him.

 

“Needed to get under the radar fast, plus it gave me a chance to test a theory.” She stopped right beside his chair, “I missed you dad.” Phil smiled softly before pushing his chair back and opening his arms, Harriet collapsed on his lap burying her head in his shoulder as they both cried. Harriet’s imposed exile had been hard on them both because he knew for a fact she wasn’t this thin when he left her all those months ago with Stark.

 

“After you get back from Malibu, you’re grounded. No, you’re going to be handcuffed to me for the next three years if I have anything to do with it. No, I’ll lock you in a cell and never let you out.” Harriet smiled against his neck and nodded, any Agent’s that tried looking for Phil during the next few hours suddenly forgot who they were looking for as soon as they neared the room.

 

~~^v^~~

 

“Y’know, that’s a lovely tattoo you’re developing.” Tony glared at the reflection of Harriet in the mirror and buttoned up his shirt before taking the drink from her hand and taking a sip.

 

“It’s road rash, from Monaco.” He knew that Harriet would smell the lie on him, but at that moment he couldn’t really force himself to care, it was his birthday and he wanted to celebrate it his way even if it meant being depressed.

 

“I should cancel the party.” Harriet smiled slightly.

 

“Probably.”

 

“Yeah, ‘cause it’s, um”

 

“Ill-timed.”

 

“Right, sends the wrong message.”

 

“Inappropriate.” Tony took another sip of his drink before sitting in his chair, Harriet moved to stand beside him. He looked up at her and sighed, “If this was your last birthday party you were ever going to have, how would you celebrate it?”

 

“And I thought S.H.I.E.L.D Agents were morbid,” Harriet sighed and stood, smoothing down her dress she turned to face her Boss and gave her honest opinion, “I’d do whatever I wanted to do, with whoever I wanted to do it with, I’d also want to go out with a bang if I couldn’t be with that person. But as you will find another viable source of energy I refuse to hear you talk about dying (Tony opened his mouth) Ever. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to let your guests in, try to smile. Act like this is a game of Poker, don’t show them the hand you have no matter how crap it may be.”

 

Tony watched as Harriet left the room, and downed the rest of his drink, Harriet was right (for a gopher) although he did wish he hadn’t invited so many people. Getting up from his seat he went to the mini bar and got himself a whiskey on the rocks, it was his party and he was going to enjoy it. He’d at least go out with a bang and make it the most memorable party ever. Damn the consequences!


	14. Chapter 13

Harriet Coulson: Avenger

Chapter 13

 

Harriet blinked into the coffee mug in front of her before tugging the hood to her jacket further over her head to block out the sun and anyone from finding out who she was. Last night had been a disaster of epic proportions as Tony’s self-destructive tendencies came to the forefront of his personality. The moment he’d come up from the Lab in his red and gold Iron Man suit she’d told Jarvis to call Pepper and got the hell out of dodge, she wasn’t qualified for taking care of Tony’s mess, just making sure his coffee cup never ran on empty.

 

So now she found herself staring into a coffee mug and wondering if she should eat the doughnut in front of her or not, just as something landed outside with a thud. One glance out around the side of her hood told her all she needed to know, her Boss was getting breakfast (which was a really bad idea when he was dressed as Iron Man). She moved further into the shadows and even threw up a Notice-Me-Not charm as he strolled through the doors and ordered a box of doughnuts to go.

 

Three times he looked towards her and frowned, she knew that he knew someone was there, but she didn’t feel like saying “Hi Boss, fancy seeing you here?” yeah, like that would go down well. He’d be hung over and annoyed at the fact she hadn’t stayed at the party long enough to laugh about it as he was coming out of his drunken stupor. It was with a sigh that she watched him leave, but after hearing something land on the roof she ordered another coffee, if her Boss was going to be late for work then so was she.

 

“Sir! I’m going to have to ask you to exit the doughnut!” She groaned and looked out of the window again, sure enough there was Fury in his entire bad-boy black leather outfit and eye patch, staring at the roof in a We-Need-To-Talk-NOW pose. Her head hit the back of the booth as she heard Tony get up and land by the window, once again she watched Tony glance her way before they both sat near the windows with take-out coffee. This was going to be good.

 

“Hello Mr. Stark, my name is Director Fury.”

 

“Ah! So the elusive man appears, but I’m sorry today’s my day off.” Harriet hid a smirk at Tony’s reply, she could already see the vein throbbing in Fury’s head and was glad she’d found someone else who could annoy the Cyclops as much as she could.

 

“Every day if your day off Mr. Stark, I’m here as a favour to a friend.”

 

“You have friends?” Tony shook his head, his sunglasses still in place, “Wait, is this about your super-secret boy band, because I already told Agent Coulson, no.”

 

“It’s not about that, I seem to remember you doing everything yourself.” Harriet nodded, she had to agree with Fury just this once but she wished he’d keep that grin off of his face, it was downright therapy inducing, “how’s that working out for you, doing things yourself?”

 

“It’s…It’s...” Tony lifted his coffee cup before sighing, “Look, I’m sorry, I don’t wanna get off on the wrong foot or anything but what do I look at, the eye, the patch or your forehead?” Harriet snorted and she watched as Fury’s gaze moved to her booth before focusing back on Tony, she forgot that she’d not put up a silencing spell.

 

“Honestly, I’m still a little hung-over, I’m not sure if you’re real of if I’m having one of those trippy moments people get.”

 

“I am very real” Fury even moved into Tony’s personal space to get the point across and Harriet tilted her head to the side, “I’m the realist person you are ever going to meet.”

 

“Just my luck, a Cyclops is the only one real thing I’m going to see. Where’s the staff, I’m sure someone was here before?” As Tony looked around Harriet stood and watched as Fury saw the lovely tattoo Tony was developing.

 

“That’s not looking so good.” What Tony had to say in reply Harriet didn’t hear as she was dodging out of Natasha’s way as she came over, (so Agent Romanoff was going to make her grand entrance) slipping into the booth behind Tony, Harriet sat on the table and watched from her new front row seat, and to think she’d only wanted to get a cup of coffee before work.

 

“The perimeter is secure, but I don’t think it should be held for too much longer.” And Fury’s creepy smile was making a comeback as Tony got a good look at his old personal assistant.

 

“You’re fired.”

 

“I’m afraid that’s no longer up to you.”

 

“Tony, I can call you Tony right? I want you to meet Agent Romanoff. She’s a S.H.I.E.L.D. shadow and from the moment we knew you were ill she was tasked to you by me.” Tony looked towards Fury and glared as much as he could with a hangover, while Harriet sat back and waited for her Boss to get going, she fleetingly wished she had some popcorn.

 

“And how did you know I was ill, ah wait, stupid question. Harriet.” Fury and Natasha nodded while Tony leaned back and sighed, “So while she couldn’t be there to be your eyes and ears you sent in” he gestured to Natasha, “I suggest you apologise.”

 

“You’ve been busy, Tony, made your girl CEO, giving away your stuff, inflating your ego to the point of explosion. You even let your friend fly away with your suit, now if I didn’t know better...” Harriet sat forward fast, was there something she’d missed last night? Damn! She’d left before the party had really started; she sat back a little dejected while Tony mirrored her in front.

 

“You don’t know better. I didn’t give it to him, he took it.”

 

“He took it?” Harriet muttered just as Fury spoke it, she was sure there was some failsafe that Tony had that prevented this type of thing, what had she missed while away that hadn’t been in the S.H.I.E.L.D. database?

 

“You’re Iron Man and he just took it?” Fury was starting to get into this as Harriet noted his voice got a little higher with each word, although she really wanted to go now, leaving was not an option. “He entered, kicked you arse and just left with your suit. Is that even possible?”

 

“Well, according to Mr. Stark’s database security guidelines, there are redundancies to prevent unauthorised usage.”

 

“And isn’t that a lot of big words for a little girl.” Tony replied before huffing in his little way, “What do you want from me?”

 

“What do we want from you?” Fury shook his head, “What do you want from me?” Harriet watched with narrowed eyes as Natasha stood and walked over to the case that was on the counter, “You have become a problem, a problem I have to deal with.”

 

“Harriet used to deal with me before, why can she not do that now?”

 

“Because, Tony, she has no idea what’s been happening these past three months and we have no intention of telling her.” Harrier jerked her gaze back to Fury and frowned, oh hell no was she being left out of the loop, she was the one that spotted Tony’s illness to begin with, “Also, contrary to your belief you are not the centre of hers or my universe. I have bigger problems than you in the southwest region to deal with.”

 

“And I told you that going after Banner was a bad idea!” Harriet was fed up now and cancelled her spell; Fury trained his gun on her along with Natasha, while Tony just turned in his seat slowly and blinked.

 

“Are you here for doughnuts too?” Tony asked and Harriet smiled, acting as if she hadn’t just almost been shot by her friend and her father’s boss.

 

“They sell the best.” She turned her cold green gaze on Fury, “What are you doing still chasing after Banner; he deserves to be left alone and not trapped in a lab as some experiment gone wrong.”

 

“Agent Coulson, we will not discuss this here, that is classified information and Tony is still a civilian.” Harriet snorted but kept quiet while Tony turned back around once again to face the African-American man. “Hit him.” Harriet frowned as Natasha came forward and injected something into his neck; she had Natasha’s face against the table within a few seconds while Tony flinched.

 

“Oh, God, are you going to steal my organs and sell them? They’re much more valuable to me though, “he looked at Natasha’s face in front of him, “Could you please not do anything awful for five seconds? I’m still reeling from the appearing act Harriet did. What the hell did you do to me?” his gaze fell on Fury.

 

“Coulson, let go of Romanoff this instant,” Harriet let go but not before tightening her grip for a few seconds, then she finally looked at Tony and the rapidly disappearing tattoo.

 

“Ah, man, I was just starting to like your iron work.” She smiled before turning expectantly towards Fury, “What did you do to him?”

 

“What did we just do for you? That’s lithium dioxide. It’s gonna take the edge off things for a while, your vacation time just ended.” Harriet saw the moment when Tony was just about to ask for more as a cure.

 

“It only abates the symptoms Tony; you’ve still got to work on it.” Harriet spoke cautiously, her mind already filling in the blanks.

 

“It’s not going to be an easy fix.” Fury stated and Harriet rolled her eyes at the same time Tony seemed to come back to life.

 

“Trust me, I know. I’m good at this stuff. I’ve been looking for a viable replacement for palladium and it doesn’t exist. I’ve tried every combination and permutation of every known element and it does not exist.” Harriet sighed, if only the genius knew where to look.

 

“Well, I’m here to tell you, you haven’t tried them all.” At Tony’s frown, Harriet knew things were just going to escalate.

 

“Why don’t we head back to the house and work it out there? You know, in a lab?” All three stared at her before she rolled her eyes and headed for the door, “As much as I love the doughnuts here, they don’t have Jarvis. See you at work Boss; I’ll even make you your coffee.”

 

“Just lose the salt this time.” Tony called after her and she laughed, things were looking up even if she was to return to D.C with Fury later.

 

~~^v^~~

 

“So you’re going to be babysitting Tony, good luck with that.” Phil glared playfully at his daughter who was waving her wand around the room, packing all of her things so she could head back to D.C.

 

“It’ll be easy, he’s on house arrest.” Harriet snorted, “And if he even tries to make a run for it I’ll Taser him and watch Super Nanny while he drools into the carpet.”

 

“But you hate Super Nanny, dad.” The last item was placed at the top of the trunk and with a tap Harriet was picking up a little matchstick box and putting it into her pocket.

 

“He doesn’t know that.” Harriet laughed and faced her dad.

 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause more problems.” Phil sighed and pulled the young woman into his arms for a hug, it didn’t matter that his suit would be wrinkled by the end of it; she was his daughter and needed all the hugs she could get before she decided they were too childish for her.

 

“It would have happened anyway, especially with his continued use of the Iron Man suit. You leaving had no reflection on this whatsoever, okay. I think we’re all glad you’re back safe.” Harriet leaned her head against his shoulder and breathed in his scent.

 

“Try not to kill him dad, he just needs some time alone with his toys and his dad’s notes.” Phil pulled back a little and stared into his daughter eyes.

 

“You looked through his things?”

 

“It wasn’t with any classified information, and I was 10 at the time, I didn’t know what it meant.”

 

“But you’ve read it since then, right?” From Harriet suddenly avoiding his gaze he looked towards the ceiling and sighed, “Harriet, when are you going to learn that curiosity killed the cat?”

 

“Satisfaction brought it back dad, and it was only a little peak the second time around. I was kind of hiding from everyone at the time.” She pulled away and Phil let her, they both looked around the room and headed for the door.

 

“Harriet, are you going to tell me why meeting Mr. Asgard got you spooked?” Harriet shook her head before closing the door behind them both.

 

“I’ll tell you sometime dad, it’s just I ran into a dead end so I’m not quite sure what to do for the moment, but I’ll figure it out.”

 

~~^v^~~

 

“That thing in your chest is based on unfinished technology.” Fury stated as he sat in one of the only chairs that had survived the explosion at the party the night before.

 

“No, it was finished. It didn’t do much until I miniaturised it, but it was finished.” Tony replied, finally out of his Iron Man suit, some of the joints had started to chaff from wearing it for so long.

 

“No. Howard said the arc reactor was stepping stone to something greater; something greater than the energy to keep you alive.” Fury took a sip of his water, “he was about to kick off an energy race that was going to dwarf the arms race, Stark Industries was going to become a part of a whole new sub-division, a turn for the better.”

 

“You’re telling me we were going to go into clean energy?” Tony looked sceptical.

 

“He was onto something big, so big, that it was going to make the nuclear reactor look like a triple-A battery.”

 

“Just him, or was Anton Vanko in on it, too?”

 

“Wasn’t he the father of that whip guy from Monaco?” Once again Harriet found several weapons trained on her, and Phil chocked on his laughter behind her, “Aren’t we a bunch of trigger happy people today, hey boss, do you want me to call for a decorator because whoever put in your new window did a really bad job.”

 

“Ah! Harriet, just the gopher I wanted to see.” Tony waved his hand about before pointedly looking at the bottle on the table in front of him; rolling her eyes Harriet moved forward and poured him a drink before bowing over it with a flourish.

 

“Will that be all, my Lord?”

 

“I shall not require you a moment longer, you may go.” Tony watched as Harriet moved to one of the only standing walls and leaned against it, “And yes, he was the father of the guy from Monaco.”

 

“Well, that complicates things a little more.” Tony gave her a look as if to say she had no idea.


	15. Chapter 14

Harriet Coulson: Avenger

Chapter 14

Fury glared at the interruption, “Anton Vanko is the other side of that coin, and he saw it as a get rich quick scheme. When Howard found out he had in deported.”

 

“Back to Russia?” Fury nodded at Harriet before continuing,

 

“But when the Russians found out he couldn’t deliver they shipped his ass off to Siberia and he spent the next twenty years in a vodka-fuelled rage.”

 

“Not the best environment to raise a kid in, why wasn’t whip-guy taken away?” Harriet asked, getting another glare and a pointed look from her father.

 

“Probably didn’t care enough to take the kid out.” Tony replied before facing Fury, “You told me I hadn’t tried everything. What do you mean I haven’t tried everything?  What haven’t I tried?” Harriet looked out at the sea pretending she wasn’t as interested in this part of the discussion.

 

“He said that you were the only person with the means and knowledge to finish what he started.” Fury looked out at the ocean before his gaze fell on Harriet.

 

“Sounds like a grooming plan to me.” She muttered, knowing she wasn’t loud enough for anyone to hear although she was sure Fury knew what she’d been thinking.

 

“He said that?” Tony shook his head as Fury turned back to him and leaned forward.

 

“Are you that guy? Are you? ‘Cause if you are, then you can solve the riddle of you heart.” Harriet snorted and received a glare from Fury.

 

“Sorry, but that was the cheesiest line I’ve ever heard.” Tony smirked behind his glass, he’d been thinking the same actually, he watched Fury’s eye narrow dangerously.

 

“I don’t know where you get your information but he wasn’t my biggest fan.” Harriet turned her face to Tony and saw the slight lowering of his shoulders.

 

“What do you remember about your dad?” Harriet glared at Fury; didn’t the Cyclops know when to back off? Obviously not in this case.

“He was cold, calculating. He never told me he loved me, let along liked me.” Harriet wanted to tell him that it didn’t mean Howard had disliked him but Tony was continuing, “so it’s a little tough for me to digest when you say he said the whole future was riding on me, that he’s passing it down. I don’t get that.” Harriet moved away from the wall.

 

“We’re talking about a man who’s happiest day was shipping me off to boarding school.”

 

“That’s not true.” Harriet tilted her head as she watched Fury, while Tony leaned back and glared at the ocean as if it was its fault this was happening.

 

“Well, then, clearly you knew my dad better than I did.”

 

“As a matter of fact, I did.” Harriet watched as the trunk she’d looking in when she was ten was brought in by two Agents, “He was one of the founding members of S.H.I.E.L.D.”

 

“What?” Tony and Harriet burst out as Fury stood, looking at his watch.

 

“I got a two o’clock. Agent Coulson you’re coming with me.”

 

“Now just wait a minute! What’s this?” Tony was on his feet now and pointing at the trunk, while Harriet made her way over.

 

“You’re good, right? (“No I’m not good!”) You got this? Right? Right?”

 

“Got what? I don’t even know what I’m supposed to get.”

 

“Natasha will remain a floater at Stark with her cover intact. And you remember Agent Coulson, right?”

 

“I remember both, one more than the other, but that’s not the point. What the hell am I supposed to get?”

 

“And Tony; remember, I got my eye on you.” Harriet rolled her eyes before walking out of the door after Fury.

 

“Hey! You’re stealing my gopher!”

 

“We’ve disabled all communications. No contact with the outside world. Good luck.” And Natasha was leaving as well; Tony looked at the male Agent Coulson.

 

“Please. First thing, I need a little bodywork. I’ll put in a little time at the lab. If we could send one of your goon squad down to The Coffee Bean Cross Creek, for a Starbucks run, or something like that, that’d be nice.”

 

“I’m not here for that Mr. Stark. I’ve been authorised by Director Fury to use any means necessary to keep you on the premises. I also have the blueprints Harriet’s provided for us to keep you contained. And I’m not her so I will not be doing the coffee run either.” Tony pouted as Phil moved towards the doorway.

 

“Also if you attempt to leave or play any games, I’ll Taser you and watch re-runs of Super Nanny while you drool into the carpet. Thank you for your cooperation.” Tony watched him leave blinking.

 

“Yeah, I think I got it.” He looked at the trunk before grabbing a handle so he could take it down into the lab, wishing that Harriet was there so she’d do it for him. Which reminded him, he still had to talk to her about this ‘magic’ she could do.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Harriet dodged the arrow that promptly embedded itself into the wall where her head had been, she knew that this would happen but if she didn’t face him now he’d just try and shoot her while on a mission together.

 

“Hey! Have you lost all sense of etiquette while I was gone?”

 

“Gone! You weren’t gone Harriet, you didn’t exist!” Another arrow came flying towards her and she moved into the room and behind a pillar, the other Agents that had been with her were already running in the opposite direction knowing they’d get hit in the crossfire if they stayed.

 

“I did call!”

 

“Yes, for a maximum of forty seconds, not really much to work with in that time.” Harriet grunted as she hit the floor and rolled, throwing up a shield charm as she realised she’d fall a little short of her new hiding place, another arrow bounced off the shield and exploded a few feet away. Okay, Clint must be man if he was using his special tips.

 

“Look, I’m sorry. Plus you’ve always told me I had to do something big if I wanted Fury to notice me and give me missions.”

 

“Yeah, like get information that he couldn’t not go MIA for three months.” Harriet had finally reached a ladder and she quickly made her way onto the platform above, standing still when she reached to top she took a breath.

 

“Like you wouldn’t do the same Hawkeye.” It was silent, there were no more arrows being cocked and sent her way, she took a moment to try and find him and saw hi move a little in front and above her.

 

“That may be Emerald Silhouette, but at least I’d do more than call you for forty seconds every three weeks.” Harriet stayed silent as she moved quickly into position, grabbing the bar above her she used her momentum to swing herself onto the platform beside him.

 

“Well, I’m back now.” She grabbed a hold of his bow and slammed it towards his face, in Clint’s surprise they fell to the floor, Harriet straddling his waist as she pinned him. “Now, are you quite finished? I would like to give my friend a hug.”  Clint grunted before she moved allowing him to sit, he rolled his eyes as he held his arms wide.

 

“I missed you Clint.” He grunted again as he held her, looking down he spotted Natasha in the doorway with a smirk on her face. He turned away, so what if he was a big softie? He was only like this for Harriet

 

“Agent Coulson, Agent Barton. Suit up, you have an assignment.” Harriet pulled away an stood, holding her hand out for Clint to use, within moments they were both on the ground beside Natasha.

 

“Fury wants to see you.” The nodded and Natasha lead them out.

 

“So, now you’ve got you teenage rebellion out the way, what’s next on your list?” Harriet grinned up at Clint.

 

“Seeing how many times I can get Fury to raise his voice in a day. Want to help?” Natasha grinned along with Clint.

 

“Of course, but you owe Barton a ton of phones.” Harriet laughed as Clint punched Natasha’s arm playfully, they’d reached the command room, with a wave Natasha left and the two Agents entered the room.

 

“You’re heading to New Mexico.” Harriet felt as if there was something she was missing as Fury grinned at them.


	16. Chapter 15

Harriet Coulson: Avenger

Chapter 15

Harriet knew she had had a reason to feel that she was missing something as Clint drove her and two other Agents through the different roads leading from Las Cruces International Airport, if they’d landed in the right airport they wouldn’t be driving across the bloody state.

 

“Due to an unscheduled storm we cannot land in Santa Fe and have to be re-routed to Las Cruces.” Harriet mumbled under her breath for the umpteenth time in the last hour, Clint smirked beside her. Oh how Harriet had wanted to smack the flight attendant upside the head and then hit the pilot for good measure, why Fury had them travel by civilian means she had no idea, but she knew she’d cause Fury some mayhem when she got back. She huffed, it was just another way to punish her for not being able to be traced, although she would have thought he’d have been ecstatic, he had turned on his creepy smile to maximum so maybe he’d been happy, who knows?

 

The two Agents’ in the back exchanged weary looks, they all knew what Agent Coulson being in a mood could cause and neither of them really wanted to jump out of a speeding car. Clint turned the wheel sharply, causing Harriet to grumble once more, before she leaned forward to turn the radio on, the two Agent’s relaxed until after only a few chords Harriet was changing the station once more. Clint’s eye twitched after the tenth change, he took a moment to glance at Harriet but she was staring out of the side window not paying any attention to the fact her left hand was flicked through the stations at an accelerated rate.

 

“Harriet.”

 

“Hum.” She turned to face Clint; who had turned back to the face the road.

 

“Could you possibly leave the radio on a station, please?” Harriet stopped and the strands of a classical song came through the speakers, the Agent’s in the back relaxed a little until Harriet face turned into a scowl and she jabbed at the radio once again.

 

“Harriet!”

 

“What!?!”

 

“Just choose a bloody station and keep on it, or so help me god I’ll leave you in the middle of nowhere!” Harriet stopped once more, and this time stands of a rock song filled the car’s interior, the Agent’s in the back held their breath before both Harriet and Clint burst into song.

 

“OOOOOOOHHHHHHH, WE’RE HALF WAY THERE!!!!”

 

“Fury doesn’t pay us enough for this.” One of the Agents muttered as he sunk low in his seat, the other just nodded and stared wide eyed at the two of the most feared Agent’s singing in the front seat. Fury defiantly didn’t pay them enough to sit through hours of this.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Phil turned from the Agent who he was talking to as soon as he heard the sound of a car pulling up near the beginnings of the fence; he frowned as he heard both Clint and Harriet’s voices. He watched as the two Agents got out of the car laughing and smiling, while their backseat passenger’s staggered out and nearly ran towards him.

 

“Agent’s Mark and Webb reporting.” He nodded and looked at the Agent beside him, within moments the three had left him to deal with Harriet and Barton.

 

“Man, I can’t remember the last time we let loose like that.” Harriet grinned as she came to a stop in front of her dad, “Agent’s Coulson and Barton reporting.”

 

“You’re late.”

 

“Civilian flight got diverted, sir.” Clint looked around, his gaze resting on a crane with a platform box hanging from the steel cables, “I’m just going to set up.” He left and Harriet’s face became neutral.

 

“There was an unscheduled diversion, sir. Where can I start, sir?” Phil looked into the green eyes of his daughter and sighed.

 

“As punishment for your tardiness you’ll be put on coffee duty.” He handed over a slip of paper, “Here is the order, have it back here warm. You have one hour.” He smiled, “And welcome to your first mission, Harriet.” Harriet smiled, saluted and returned to the car, making sure the radio was still on the rock channel she reversed out of the small gate and headed towards the local town. Phil smiled before turning back to the base that was being built behind him and sighed; it was good to know that Harriet was going to be with him for however long this mission took. He didn’t think he could handle it if Harriet had stayed either with Stark or in D.C.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Clint settled himself in his new ‘nest’ and closed his eyes, feeling the wind through his hair he smiled. This would always be preferable to cars and planes, although if he had Harriet beside him singing it would be so much better, he grinned and opened his eyes at the sound of an engine. Looking down he watched Harriet speed towards the nearest town, his gaze drifted to Coulson as he headed towards the other Agents working on getting a structure up around the stone thing in the centre. His phone beeped and he got it out of his pocket and pressed it against his ear.

 

“Hawkeye.”

 

_“hey Hawk, I’ve been tasked with the coffee run and realised they didn’t put us down for anything. Should I just get you your usual?”_

“Emerald, at least turn the music down first.” Clint moved the phone from his ear as the latest song came through the device.

 

 _“Oops. Sorry.”_ There was a pause and the music stopped, Clint carefully put the phone back to his ear, _“Well?”_

 

“Sure and don’t forget the doughnuts.”

 

_“You’re going to get fat from all those doughnuts.”_

 

“Impossible. My body is a temple, and so it’s perfectly sculptured.” Clint heard Harriet laugh and smirked.

 

 _“Sure, whatever. See you later.”_ The line went dead and he placed the device back into his pocket, he turned to his case and began setting up his equipment, he had a feeling something back was going to happen within the next few hours.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Pulling up outside of the small diner in the town of Puente Antiguo, Harriet got out of the car and straitened her suit jacket, she placed her shades on and watched as a few SUV’s, trucks and vans headed towards Smiths Motors.

 

“Ah, I get sent on a coffee run and the rest get the fun stuff.” She sighed before walking towards the diner’s door and entering the air-conditioned area; she smiled and headed towards the elderly lady behind the counter.

 

“Hello, Ma’am. Could I have twenty-three large coffees, seven cappuccino’s, two lattes’, a mint tea and a coke to go please?” The woman stared at her for a few moments before nodded; Harriet smiled and leaned against the counter her eyes drifting over the people who were already there. Her gaze fell on a large blond man sat with two young women and an old man, she tilted her head as she recognised them al from the file she’d received at the beginning of the mission. Well, all of them except the blond; looking away she fiddled with the napkin holder while she listened in on their conversation.

 

“How’d you get inside that cloud?” She looked at the reflection to see it had been Jane Foster that had spoken.

                                                                                            

“Also, how can you eat an entire box of Pop-Tarts and still be this hungry?” Darcy Lewis, her mind supplied as she turned to face them, reaching up to take off her glasses she rubbed her eyes as Dr. Eric Selvig turned to face her. The town obviously didn’t get many visitor’s that looked like they belonged in the offices of Stark Industries, for a brief moment she smiled at the thought of Tony having to get his own coffee for however long she was away.

 

“Dearie, why don’t you sit down? I’ll bring everything over to you when it’s all ready.”

 

“Thank you ma’am.” Harriet replied after she’d turned to face to woman, with a smile she moved to one of the table’s near the window that was close (but not too close) to the people she had been spying on.

 

“This drink, I like it.” Harriet frowned, the blond had a weird way of talking it was as if he was from the Victorian Era, and she turned her head slightly and watched the man hold the mug as if to throw it.

 

“I know. It’s great, right?” Darcy smiled as Harriet’s eyes widened slightly.

 

“Another!” the blond made to smash the mug on the ground but Harriet grabbed his arm and instead the mug fell from his hand into her free one.

 

“Ah! Didn’t your mother ever tell you it’s not nice to throw things?” Darcy had already moved her chair back and had fallen to the floor while the other two blinked at Harriet. The blond kept on staring at her and then his arm, and then the mug, which had been placed back onto the table, Harriet let go of his arm and stood, straightening her jacket once more.

 

“Sorry, I just didn’t want the lady behind the counter hurting herself from cleaning up the shards.” She smiled and moved towards the counter where there were already a lot of take-out coffee cups in holders.

 

“I’ll just take these.” Grabbing the first lot of coffees the left the diner, before the door closed whispers broke out about her speed at catching the mug.


	17. Chapter 16

Harriet Coulson: Avenger

Chapter 16

 

Thor watched the woman with the green eyes leave and turned to face the mug that he’d just been about to throw, Jane glared at him from across the table while Darcy resumed her seat. Eric kept his gaze on the woman outside the window who was struggling a little to open the trunk of her car, although after a few moments she was placing the coffee inside of the trunk.

 

“Can we have another coffee over her please Izzy?” Jane called.

 

“I’ll have to make a new brew; this order’s already taken a few lots already.” The elderly lady called back as she placed the mint tea and the coke on the counter, ready for the green eyed woman to take to the car.

 

“Thanks.” Jane reached over and took the mug away before Thor could attempt to throw it on the ground again; she briefly wondered how such a young woman had enough strength to stop the swing of the blond sat across from her. The door to the diner opened again and the group turned to watch the woman come back for another lot of coffee and to let a few truckers in.

 

“The usual, please, Izzy.” Thor returned to his plate as he thought of the green eyed woman and how he could talk to her, there was something familiar about her after all.

 

“You missed all the excitement out at the crater.” Jane noticed how the dark haired woman faltered in her step slightly as she returned for more of her order. “They’re saying some kind of satellite landed out in the desert.”

 

“Yeah, we were having a good time with it, until the Feds showed up.” Both Eric and Jane shared a look before they turned to face the two men sat at the counter; Darcy looked over as well in between taking photos of Thor. The green eyed woman had returned once more for the last load and had stopped to look at the two men as well.

 

“Excuse me. Did you say there was a satellite crash?” Jane queried and the man nodded, once more Jane and Eric shared a look before turning back to listen to what the men had to say. Thor took another bite and watched the emerald eyed woman leave slowly while listening to the men; maybe he’d get his opportunity soon.

 

“What did it look like, the satellite? Eric asked, and the trucker shrugged.

 

“I don’t know much ‘bout satellite’s but it was heavy.” Thor smiled slightly, “I mean, nobody could lift it. They said it was radioactive. But I had my hands all over it” Thor stood and swallowed his mouthful before moving to place his hand on the man’s shoulder.

 

“Which way?”

 

“About 50 miles west of here, I think.” Thor turned to leave, “But I wouldn’t waste my time! It’s like an army base down there.” 

 

Jane quickly gabbed her coat as she followed the man outside, the green eyed woman peered at them curiously from the trunk of her car as they passed.

 

“Where are you going?”

 

“50 miles west of here.”

 

“Why?”

 

“To get what belongs to me.”

 

“So you own a satellite now?”

 

“It’s not what they say it is. It’s Mjolnir.”

 

“Well the government seems to think it’s theirs now. What do you plan on doing going in there and just taking it?”

 

“Yes.” Thor replied simply as if it was the most obvious thing in the word, Jane sighed,” Look if you take me there now, I’ll tell you everything you wish to know.”

 

“Everything?”

 

“Yes.” Jane smiled, before she caught Eric indicating for her to come over, with a slightly smile she moved towards the Dr. and they spoke while Thor looked around the area. The woman that had stopped his hand was still by her car, and his eyes narrowed as he saw the haze that magic had. He’d been around his brother long enough to know what magic looked like.

 

“I’m sorry but I cannot take you.” Thor smiled softly; he thought that the moment she’d left to talk to Eric.

 

“Then this is where we say goodbye.”

 

~~^v^~~

 

Harriet waved her hand over the multitude of coffee cups in the trunk of her car, her wand was up her sleeve so she’d been able to cast charms to prevent spillage, movement, and heat loss, with a sigh she grabbed her mint tea and the coke and closed the trunk gently. She looked up to see that the group she’d been eavesdropping on had split up and the three from the file were running towards Smith Motors and the S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents who had been tasked with getting the things there.

 

“It is madness that you’d hide your true form from me, brother.”

 

“I have no idea what you are talking about, sir.” Harriet replied as she turned to face the blond, who she still didn’t know the name of; she mentally scowled at that fact.

 

“Brother, enough of your trickery. It is me Thor.” Harriet’s eyes widened, before she mentally scoffed.

 

“Yeah, and I’m the Lady Sif.” She rolled her eyes, “Look, I have places to go, so if you’ll excuse me.” She turned back to her car door and opened it before it was slammed closed, her green eyes narrowed as she saw the muscularly tanned hand keeping it shut.

 

“Loki, brother, stop this game.”

 

“Look, here Mr. Shakespearian Reject! My name is Harriet Coulson and if you don’t remove your sausage fingered hand from my car this instance I’ll shave your head and take out your eye!” She’d turned by this point and so her face became really close to the blond’s who had leaned in to stop her.

 

“Did you think to pull this trick on me twice, brother? Please, show yourself and tell me of Asgard.” Harriet felt his hands encircle her upper arms and she glared, Thor looked a little shocked, before she brought up her knee and caught him right between the legs. With a snarl she turned to her car and wrenched the door open, not caring that she had hit Thor on the head, and got into the vehicle placing the two drinks somewhere safe she started the engine and pulled away from the curb. It wasn’t until she was almost back at the crater base that she realised where she’d heard all of the terms before. Pulling over onto the side of the road she blinked before grinning madly (and the Goblin’s said it was impossible!)

 

~~^v^~~

 

“Hey! Hey that’s my stuff!” Jane snapped immediately as she rushed into the building. “What the hell is going on here?”

 

“Ms. Foster, I’m Agent Coulson with S.H.I.E.L.D.”

 

“Is that supposed to mean something to me? You can’t do this!” Eric quickened his pace with wide eyes as he took in the suited people running about and the Agent in front of him, his mind replayed the woman from the diner and knew she was a part of S.H.I.E.L.D. too.

 

“Jane! Jane, this is a lot more serious than you realise. Let it go.” Eric looked up to see Agent Coulson smiling at them.

 

“Let it go? This is my life.” Jane replied with a slightly panicked look

 

“We’re investigating a security threat. We need to appropriate your records and all of your atmospheric data.” Agent Coulson still continued to smile in a reassuring way.

 

“By ‘appropriate,’ do you mean steal?”

 

“Here, this should more than compensate you for your trouble.” Agent Coulson reached into his pocket and pulled out a check, for an undisclosed amount of money, by now the group had walked through the entire building and was now standing by a black van being filled with boxes of equipment.

 

“I can’t just buy replacements at Radio Shack; I made most of this myself.” Darcy looked bewildered at the Agent’s rushing around them, while Agent Coulson just smiled politely.

 

“Then I’m sure you can do it again.”

 

“And I’m sure I can sue you for violating my constitutional rights!”

 

“I’m sorry; Ms. Foster, but we’re the good guys.”

 

“Yeah, well so are we.” Jane pulled her hair from out of her face, “I’m on the verge of understanding something extraordinary, and everything I know about this phenomenon is either in this lab or in this book.” Agent Coulson indicated for the book to be taken as well, “And you can’t just take this away… Hey!” Jane tried snatching the book back.

 

“Jane! Easy! Easy. Jane…” Eric pulled her away at the Agent slammed the door closed, Agent Coulson closed the other one before turning back to the three people huddled in the doorway.

 

“Thank you for your cooperation.” He smiled and then got into another car, within moments the Agents were gone and Jane, Darcy and Eric were looking at an empty lab.

 

~~^v^~~

 

In Asgard, Loki sat on the throne and smiled, all of his plans were working so far. His brother was banished, he was ruler of Asgard now that Odin had fallen to Odinsleep, and Thor’s friends were off doing only Heimdall-knew-what. He sighed, even though all of his plans were working, his mind returned to an old student of his. Harriet Coulson was a strange and wonderful child, and as soon as Loki knew he couldn’t be contested he’d snatch her away from Midgard and train her in all he knew. For he knew she’d make a wonderful Queen for him, and a valuable jewel in his possession.

 

Yes, Harriet Coulson, no Harriet Potter would be a wonderful addition to Asgard and the beginnings of his treasure vault.


	18. Chapter 17

Harriet Coulson: Avenger

Chapter 17

 

Phil pulled up in the car and sat watching Harriet as she levitated all of the coffees behind her and into the plastic walls of the compound, finally getting out he indicated for the data to be recorded and sorted so S.H.I.E.L.D. would have all the information on record. Moving after the floating coffee cups he watched as his daughter moved about and chatted to the entire group of Agent’s by name, even if some kept a good distance because of the rumours about her.

 

“Coulson” Harriet turned and flicked her wrist so the mugs would head to the break room although one stayed behind and moved towards Phil as she stepped forward to meet him.

 

“Sir,”

 

“I want your eyes on everything, speak to Barton, he’ll help you set up.” Harriet watched as her father grabbed the coffee from the air and took a sip.

 

“Yes, sir.” She nodded and made her way out of the compound, Phil watched her go with a soft smile before it disappeared.

 

“And don’t think I didn’t see you put that tracking charm on those people.” Harriet’s laughter filled the air as he turned and began to organise the data they’d appropriated.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Clint wasn’t surprised to hear the pop behind him and Harriet’s laughter much closer than it had been, what did surprise him was the bottle of coke that smacked him in the face as he turned to look back around the compound. Rubbing his nose he scowled at the mint tea drinking witch before grabbing the bottle before it returned for a second hit.

 

“And what’s so funny?” He asked as his blue eyes moved to look towards the ground and the perimeter as he unscrewed the cap of the bottle.

 

“I still can’t seem to get anything past dad. Plus you’re showing me the ropes, which you don’t need to do thanks to me already placing a few wards that’ll set off the alarm.” Clint nodded and took a gulp of the fizzy drink as Harriet moved forward and leaned on the railing of the hanging cage beside him. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye and watched her expression become pensive as she took small sips of her tea.

 

“Wanna talk?”

 

“I’ll probably need to, but it’s just something I need to keep to myself for now.” Clint nodded before his eyes fell on one of the Agent’s that had been in the car with them.

 

“Better get your skinny arse in the other cage, before Coulson has us trying to get that thing out of its crater.” Harriet laughed and softly punched him in the arm before there was a small crack of displaced air and she was now in the cage across from him poking out her tongue with a smile. He returned in kind before watching her collapse into a fit of laughter, his smile stayed on his face the longest it’d ever done since she’d gone missing.

 

“It’s nice to have you back, Agent Coulson.” He said over the comm. line and was surprised at the multiple replies in return, giving their own welcome back. It seemed everyone had been waiting for someone other than Coulson Senior to welcome her back.

 

“It’s good to be back.” Harriet replied and Clint grinned.

 

“If you’ve got time to talk you’ve got time to look for possible threats.” Clint smirked as he turned to look around the compound, trust Agent Phil Coulson to keep everyone in line.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Harriet tried to keep her eyes open, honestly she did, but with darkness falling and the same group of Agent’s circling the perimeter she couldn’t quite do it, of course she’d leaned very early on how to sleep while giving the air of being awake, but she didn’t want to disappoint her father which was why she was tapping her wand on the tip of her nose and grimacing as the bone broke. With the next tap it was fixed and she was a little more awake than she had been; which was more than she could say for the two guys slumped over in the seat of the golf buggy they were in, she blinked and leaned over the edge of the cage as she saw a shadow move.

 

Okay, so they weren’t asleep, they’d been knocked out. It took a few moments before her Comm. link was awash with voices, everyone talking over everyone else. She glanced over towards Clint as the sirens started and the ground was flooded with light, she felt wetness fall on her cheek and she rolled her eyes, trust it to bloody rain at a time like this.

 

_“Agent Coulson, do you have eyes on the infiltrator?”_

 

“Yes sir,” She glanced back down, wide awake now that something was actually happening, and watched as the dark shadow moved towards one of the opening’s before she got a flash of blonde as the person ridded themselves of the poncho they’d worn. She sucked in a breath as she recognised him as the one who’d mistaken her for Loki earlier that day, shaking her head she kept her eyes glued to the man as he dispatched all the muscle that S.H.I.E.L.D had sent. 

 

“Sir, do you want to keep sending people for him to beat up of should I pop an arrow in his ass.” Harriet smirked as Clint’s voice came over the line and as she apperated closer to the action she heard her father’s firm reply of ‘No’. Stepping over the downed men, she watched from the opening in the tarp as the blond man tried pulling aimlessly at the hammer. She had a feeling that this was going to be a turning point within the whole night, and watching the man collapse in agony she couldn’t help but want to cry for him.

 

“He seems to be complacent, should I apprehend him sir?” She spoke clearly as she began walking towards one of the staircases into the pit where the man was.

 

_“Go ahead Agent Coulson; bring him to the tea room when you’re finished.”_

 

“Yes sir.” And with that she stepped back into the rain and made her way through the mud towards the broken God of Thunder.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Clint almost had a heart attack as he watched Harriet approach the man who’d dispatched more than half of the team sent to this godforsaken desert. He had an arrow ready to let loose as he watched her slip and slide in the mud and rain.

 

_“Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to come with me. It is not healthy for you to stay where you are.”_

 

Clint couldn’t hear the reply, and he didn’t think that Harriet knew she still had the Comm. Line open so that the whole base could hear part of the conversation. He flexed his fingers as the man looked up at his co-worker, who was so close that Clint knew she was about to reach down and help him up with force in necessary.

 

_“I daresay it is sir, but I still recommend that you come with me out of this rain.”_

“Be careful Silhouette.” His arrow was still aimed at the wall of muscle that Harriet was coaxing to a standing position, he also caught the brief hand signal she sent his way before the infiltrator was standing, and towering over the young Agent.

 

_“There we go. Let’s get you out of the rain.”_

 

Clint watched as the two carefully made their way to the stairs and the out of sight, relaxing his bow he breathed out a sigh. He’d never get used to having Harriet in the field; she was more unpredictable than Fury was.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Thor had no idea what to think, his world was falling apart. Mjolnir was not responding to him, his bother still pretended to be the woman he’d met earlier that day, he could still feel the pain in his loins where Loki had hit him. His excitement from the battle that had taken place had all but evaporated in the heat of him knowing he’d probably never return to Asgard again, that he’d never see his father, mother and friends.

 

“Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to come with me. It is not healthy for you to stay where you are.” He looked into the emerald eyes of the woman, and for the first time he realised that she really wasn’t Loki, for he knew his brother’s eyes to be bluer than the pure green that she possessed. He stayed frozen, not caring as the young maiden continued to advance towards him, sliding in the mud as he had done moments before.

 

“That hammer is meant to be mine.” He looked back towards Mjolnir not caring that his hair fell into his eyes that maybe some of the liquid running down his face didn’t come from the eyes that stared unseeingly. “’tis just a little rain.”

 

“I daresay it is sir, but I still recommend that you come with me out of this rain.”

 

Thor looked back at the young lady as he felt her hand touch his shoulder, he frowned in puzzlement at the tingle of power that was so much like his brother’s and yet so different. He allowed the woman to lift him from the mud and lead him out of the rain; his mind was still focused on the fact that this woman wasn’t all that she appeared to be. He hadn’t noticed the tingle when they’d first met, but he was sure he would have felt it anyway. He ignored the stares of the men that they passed along the passages and into a room covered in a reflective glass.

 

“Sir,” He looked at the young woman with magic before turning to the elder man that had entered the room, “This is Agent Coulson, and he will be asking you a few questions. Is that okay with you?” He stayed silent and stared at the floor instead, he heard the door open and then close and he knew that the magic wielder had left.

 

 ~~^v^~~

 

Harriet watched from one of the monitors as her father went to work, she couldn’t help but feel sorry for the blond man (her mind kept supplying the name Thor but continued to ignore it). It wasn’t until her father left that she felt the skin at the back of her neck tingle, rubbing it gently she moved away from the monitor and over to the interrogation room, that was dubbed the tea room as that was where some of the Agents spent most of their time. Her eyes narrowed as the image of Thor (there she did it) flickered in a repeating pattern.

 

“Agent Coulson, shouldn’t you be heading back to your post?” Harriet glanced quickly at her father before nodding and walking towards one of the openings, she was lucky it had stopped raining. Looking up she saw Clint in his cage, bow and arrow at his side, and she was sure his eyes were darting everywhere, watching everything. Once again she felt her skin tingle with magic and she turned to face the base, emerald eyes narrowing as she watched a smartly dressed man move about the compound without notice. She followed behind them, hoping to catch a glimpse of his face.

 

“Hawk, I need eyes on the pit. Check for a man in a grey long suit, black hair, pale skin, standing at around 6ft.” She heard the Comm. Line crackle before.

 

_“Negative Silhouette, just our guys there.”_

Harriet sneered in true Snape fashion as she began to jog towards the pit area, only to catch the coat tails of the smartly dressed man heading up the opposite stairs, still no one stopping him. She knew from the faint tingle in the air that he must have been using a disillusionment charm, she had but moments to decide what to do, and within those moments she was slipping and sliding across the mud in the pit and up the opposite stairs in pursuit of the wizard.


	19. Chapter 18

Harriet Coulson: Avenger

Chapter 18

 

“Goodbye.”

 

“Goodbye, I only just got back.”  Thor looked up to see Agent Coulson, as that was what the young lady had introduced him as, he looked away once more focused now on the ground and the knowledge that he’d never get home, that his Father was dead, his home now Midgard.

 

“I’m going to ask again sir, who are you?” Thor remained silent while Agent Coulson continued to stand, watching him, and waiting. Well the Son of Coul will be waiting a long time, Thor thought as he continued to stare blankly. His mind and heart in turmoil, and still he knew not of what to do, knew not of how to get out of the mess he had placed himself in because of his foolhardy determination, his stupidity.

 

A few moments later the mirrored door slid open and a man with glasses poked his head into the room.

 

“Sir, he has a visitor.” Agent Coulson looked at the man in the chair before following his co-worker outside to the entrance of the compound where he found Dr. Eric Selvig. Immediately he felt suspicious and as he faced the man he felt a headache blooming behind his eyes.

 

“His name is Donald Blake?” He’d been informed of what Dr. Selvig had to say and he had to admit it would have been good if S.H.I.E.L.D. weren’t already checking the truth of the story on the computer behind him.

 

“Dr. Donald Blake.” And that makes it so much better, Phil thought to himself as he continued to stand at the top of the stairs.

 

“You have dangerous co-workers, Dr. Selvig.” He watched the man squirm a little.

 

“He was distraught when he found out that you’ve taken all of our research. That was years of his life… Gone!” Phil raised an eyebrow but he let the man continue, “You can understand how a man could go off like that. A big, faceless organisation like yours coming in with their jackbooted thugs and…” Phil cleared his throat as the computer beeped behind him. Selvig looked a little sheepish as he looked around and the men that surrounded him, with their guns, “That’s how he put it.”

 

“That still doesn’t explain how he managed to tear through our security.” Now he could understand if it had been someone like his daughter, but she had assured him that she was not of the Wizarding world and so didn’t have the magic to bolster his strength and stealth.

 

“Steroids! He’s a bit of a fitness nut.” Now that Coulson could believe but it still didn’t fit, there had been no mention of this man while Eric Selvig, Jane Foster and Darcy Lewis had been investigated. Once again the computer behind him beeped.

 

“Sir?” Coulson turned to face the young technician and wasn’t surprised to see that the ID had been a fake.

 

“It says here that he’s an M.D.”

 

“Well, he is! Or he was. He switched careers and became a physicist.” Coulson picked up on the slight hesitation and mentally smirked, this was just too easy, although his headache was starting to get worse and he was sure that Harriet had left through the open tarp that ‘Donald Blake’ had put a hole in.

 

“A brilliant physicist.” Selvig was continuing, “He’s a wonderful man. He’s a man in pain.”

 

With a polite smile, Phil Coulson led Dr. Selvig to the blond man who had caused him a ton of paperwork. He didn’t bother to listen to the exchange and as they left he told them not to go near any bars they’d find on the way home. Stepping back inside, he spoke into the Comm. Link.

 

“Follow them and somebody find out where Agent Coulson was heading.” Hearing a confirmative on the other end he rubbed at his temples, he was getting too old for this.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Harriet rushed out of the compound after the man that only she seemed to be able to see, she could hear Clint calling out to her wondering where she was going, she ignored him. Too focused on not losing her target in the darkness that surrounded them, she knew that she was closer now, her eyes narrowed as she felt her wand warm against her forearm where it was secure in its holster.

 

“ _Bombada_ “she whispered into the night sky and the ground in front of the figure exploded as the spell hit, she crouched and shielded herself as dirt went flying in every direction, the figure flew over her head and she tilted her head as she watched their trajectory slow until they landed on the floor softly.

 

“Now that wasn’t very nice, Miss. Coulson.” Harriet’s eyes narrowed further, she knew that voice, it haunted her sleep sometimes, and she’d grown up with that voice for the first few years of her life.

 

“Mr. Asgard, or should I call you Loki?” She could feel his shock as she stood and turned to face him, her eyes focused on him now that Clint had stopped screaming in her ears. Only now her father was there, she could tell, his silence was all she needed to know that he was there listening. She knew she hadn’t turned off the Comm. Link, had known from the moment she’d approached Thor that she hadn’t, though she had kept it open only to Clint and her father.

 

“Ah, so you have figured it out. You were always a smart child Harriet.” She scowled at the slickness of his voice and she watched as his clothes changed to silver and green armour, “But I do wonder, how you could see through my illusions?” Harriet felt a laugh bubble up.

 

“You used a simple illusion to conceal yourself; a mere child could see through it.” She felt more than saw the blast of energy he shot towards her, she twisted to the side but felt her arm freeze, one quick glance down and her left arm was covered with ice.

 

“Take care on how you speak to your future King, Harriet.” She looked into his blue eyes and lifted an eyebrow while the ice on her arm melted gradually. She could read his mind with eye contact and what she saw there made her insides turn cold and her mind to flinch away.

 

“You are mad, sir.” Loki just smiled back before sending another blast of ice towards the Queen he would one day claim, Harriet had moments to duck and as she hit the ground she felt a displacement in the atmosphere as Loki disappeared from this earth.

 

_“Harriet! Harriet! Can you hear me? Do not engage! Do not engage!”_

 

“Too late Agent Barton, too late.” Her eyes closed as the ice that she had been hit with travelled across her chest making her shiver in the cold night air.

 

~~^v^~~

 

“Harriet! Harriet!” Clint cursed as he manoeuvred the cage to the ground, he’d stayed in the air, watching, so he’d known she’d left the compound chasing after some unseen threat that only her and her magic could find. Sometimes he wished he had magic just so she wouldn’t have to fight alone, but he didn’t and at least he knew how to support her when needed. He felt the bump before he was running from his post; he saw Coulson Senior ahead and they met half way.

 

“She was heading towards the west; there was a flash of light a few miles out.” Coulson nodded and barked orders into his Comm. Link as they both got into one of the buggies, Clint had an arrow notched just in case their target was still with Harriet. A quick glance towards his superior, and handler, and he knew that the man was preparing himself for the worst. There wasn’t much that scared Clint, but the loss of Harriet to Coulson was one of them, especially after the past few months, with a shake of his head he listened to the voices over the Comm. Link, praying that Harriet would be one of them.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Phil Coulson wasn’t a stoic man because of the way he’d been trained (although that was a part of it), he was a stoic man because if he let his emotions show he’d never be able to get through everything that he’d seen, and so as he continued to bark order’s to the Agent’s under his control he felt a sudden calm sweep over him. He had new information on Mr. Asgard, information that Harriet had probably gone looking for, information that was connected to this new phenomena. More information that Fury would be very pleased about, especially if Phase 2 was still to be carried out, when they finally got over that hurdle.

 

“Agent Coulson, please respond.” He waited hoping against hope that his daughter would answer, he tapped the driver in a bid to get the buggy to go faster but he knew it was no use; the buggy was going as fast as it could in the conditions that they were in.

 

“Sir, flash of red light about 500 yards east of our position.” Phil turned his head and there glowing in the sky was the S.H.I.E.L.D. symbol in a flash of red, green, blue.

 

“Head towards those sparks, Agent Matthews.” And the buggy turned, almost dislodging Clint, but that didn’t matter because Harriet was still alive, still safe, and had a lot of explaining to do.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Loki brushed a speck of dust from the shoulder of his cape, it wouldn’t do well to talk to his ‘father’ while in a mess, he smirked, no it wouldn’t do well at all. Tilting his head he felt his bones crack, lifting his hand he ran it over his face getting rid of the dirt that had clung to him from Harriet’s attack. He smirk grew stronger as he made his way across the desolate plains of Jotunheim, his Queen was feisty but she still needed to be taught her place and before he could do that he had to deal with one little problem first. It didn’t take him long to reach the main area of the Frost Giants, he didn’t even feel cold and that had to be the only thing he liked about his in heritance.

 

“Kill him.” Loki lifted an eyebrow.

 

“After all I’ve done for you?” He watched as Laufey leaned back slightly in his seat.

 

“So you’re the one who showed us the way into Asgard.” It was a statement and Loki had to bite back a scathing retort that worked along the line of them being brainless idiots.

 

“That was just a bit of fun, really.” Loki knew he had to be careful, one wrong move and his whole plan backfired, his whole point to all of this gone. “To ruin my brother’s big day. And to protect the realm from his idiotic rule for a while longer.”

 

“I will hear you.” Loki paced across the floor slowly, choosing his words carefully; he had to get the frozen beasts on his side for his plan to work. For his goal to succeed, he needed Laufey to trust him, the God of chaos, mischief and lies. It was time for his Silvertongue to go to work.

 

“I will conceal you and a handful of your soldiers, lead you into Odin’s chambers, and you can slay him where he lies.”

 

“Why not kill him yourself?” Loki stopped, his brain already forming the words he wanted to say and yet he snorted softly and smiled.

 

“I suspect that the Asgardians would not take kindly to a king who had murdered his predecessor.” And they wouldn’t, he had no chance of escape and he be killed on sight. Now all Loki needed to do was to entice Laufey, give him something he wouldn’t be able to resist. “Once Odin is dead, I will return the Casket to you and you can return Jotunheim to all its……… Glory.” He smiled as Laufey stood; he’d won this from the moment he’d stepped upon this frozen realm.

 

“I… Accept.” Loki smirked, if only Laufey knew what was really going to happen.


	20. Chapter 19

Harriet Coulson: Avenger

Chapter 19

 

“Base to team two, we’ve got activity outside the town. Stay on your target.” The Agents shared a brief look before frowning at what had to be a bunch of weirdo’s walking through the town.

 

“Er. Base, we’ve got a Xena, Jackie Chan and Robin Hood.” Below them the ‘weird’ people were approaching the target.

 

“FOUND YOU!” Everyone froze as the door opened and Thor moved forward to embrace them.

 

“My friends!”

 

“I don’t believe it.” Even Darcy was having trouble believing it this time as she stared open mouthed at the group, all of them who looked like they came for the land of medieval. Jane shared a look with Eric as Thor introduced them all, so this was the Lady Sif and the Warriors Three, they certainly lived up to their reputation.

 

“My friends, I’ve never been happier to see anyone. But you should not have come.” Jane frowned along with everyone else in the room, what did Thor mean? The next few sentences were lost on everyone as Thor blinked at the news that his father was still alive. Had his brother lied to him?

 

~~^v^~~

 

It was all happening too fast, first Harriet had been incapacitated last night when the fake doctor had slipped through security, and now there was another group of weirdo’s in the town. It also didn’t help that Agent Philip Coulson had no idea how he should proceed, except calling for a team from Linguistics to come down to the site and investigate the strange markings in the sand. Standing from his position he heard a noise that had no right to be in the middle of a desert, let alone in the state of New Mexico. Moving to stand behind one of the cars he prepared a megaphone and faced the machinery that had just appeared in the same set of markings they were investigating.

 

“Is that one of Stark’s?”

 

“I don’t know. The guy never tells me anything.” _And for good reason,_ he thought as he lifted the speaker to his lips and walked out from behind the car, “Hello. You are using unregistered weapons technology. Identify yourself.” He cautiously watched as the machine stopped, the faceplate lifted, he was already running for cover before shouting out a warning. The car he had been stood next to was lifted into the air from the blast, fragments landing all around them as the machine continued to destroy the cars they were using as cover. Phil ducked and weaved, shouting orders into his Comm.Link, as the tech walked past and into the town a few miles north of their location.

 

In the town, Thor, Jane, Darcy and Eric evacuated the people as fast as they could while Lady Sif and the Warriors Three faced off against The Destroyer, trying as hard as they could to defeat the machine that kept the Weapons Vault in Asgard safe from outside forces.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Loki watched from his throne as the people of Midgard fled, it was unfortunate what had happened to his Queen’s people but sacrifices had to be made. Lifting his hand to his face his paused with narrowed eyes as Thor walked forward,

 

“Brother, whatever I have done to wrong you, whatever I have done to lead you to do this, I am truly sorry.” Loki sat up straighter, no! Thor was not meant to apologise. Thor was meant to stay on Midgard until the time came when Loki’s plans were finally done, finally ready, “But these people are innocent. Taking their lives will gain you nothing. So take mine and end this.” Loki slammed his hand down onto the arm of the throne, taking Thor’s life would destroy everything he’d done, everything. With narrowed eyes he commanded the Destroyer to do what he could not, hit his brother upside the head for his stupidity, with that he ordered the Destroyer to return. He no longer needed a distraction, all he had to do now was greet his guests and get this all over with. He did not expect for all of his plans to fail. Not now, and not like this.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Harriet felt someone’s hand tight within her own but did not dare move, not yet it was still too cold for her to give up this warmth, this safety, carefully she listened to the movement around her as the different Agents continued their work.

 

“Her vitals are normal, and the ice has stopped spreading for the moment, we’re doing as much as we can with the resources we have but we need to get her back to the helicarrier as soon as possible. There is still a chance that hypothermia could set in, along with frost bite.” Harriet snorted in her head, she knew for a fact that her magic would keep her stable while trying to work out how to clear the ice created by Loki’s magic.

 

“Are you saying that there is no way to get that ice off of her?” That was Hawkeye, probably the one who was holding her hand.

 

“I never said we couldn’t treat this, I just said we couldn’t do it here. We’d have to use the same type of defrosting equipment that we are using on Captain Rogers back in New York. They’ve almost completed the process, and his vitals are completely stable.”

 

“But Harriet isn’t infused with super-soldier serum like he is.”

 

“No, but I have it on good authority that Magic works in very much the same way where Agent Coulson is involved.” There was a sigh, before Harriet retreated back into her mindscape, it seemed that she’d be fine, even if she was starting to look like the Cap-cicle her father admires. _Just as long as dad doesn’t watch me sleep I’ll be fine_ , and with that thought she lost her grip on consciousness.

 

~~^v^~~

 

The last thing that one Captain Steve Rodgers from Brooklyn remembered was talking to Peggy while crashing a plane into god only knew where and now as he stared around at the different images flashing high on tall buildings he couldn’t help but wonder what had happened. Hell, he wondered where he was, because this sure as hell didn’t look like anything he remembered or even knew, even with Howard’s technological advances.

 

“At ease Soldier!” The call came from behind him and as he turned he saw black nondescript cars and a man all in black walking towards him, “I’m sorry about the little show back there but we thought it best to break it to you slowly.”

 

“Break what?” Steve looked around at the armed men and tensed a little, if he had to fight his way out of this he would.

 

“You’ve been asleep Cap, for almost 70 years.” Steve blinked and looked at the eye patch wearing man in front of him, there was no way he had slept for 70 years and yet; as he looked at the strange alien world around him he could almost believe it. He felt his emotions building as he turned once more to look around.

 

“Are you going to be okay?” The question mad him start a little, he wasn’t going to be okay; he was never going to be okay.

 

“Yeah.” He paused, “Yeah, I just had a date.” _I’m sorry Peggy; I couldn’t make it after all._


	21. Chapter 20

Harriet Coulson: Avenger

Chapter 20

Upon Thor’s arrival back on Asgard he ordered for Heimdall to be taken to the healing room and then headed straight for the palace, for whatever had stopped Heimdall from responding earlier was sure to be heading to his father, Odin All-Father.

 

Within Odin’s chambers Frigga stopped her vigil of Odin as the temperature began to drop, ice cracked and froze the walls surrounding the doorway as well as the ornate golden doors themselves. Rising from her seat she grabbed Odin’s sword and held it in both her hands as she swung for the first Frost Giant who dared to enter, preparing for the next she was thrown to the side by a hit across her face, the sword falling from her grasp.

 

Laufey smirked viciously as he moved over Odin, “It’s said that you can still hear and see what transpires around you. I hope it’s true, so that you may know your death came at the hand of Laufey.” He raised his dagger of ice high before a blast of magical energy slammed into his back and shoulder knocking him to the side.

 

“And your death came by the son of Odin.” Laufey looked up to see his runt of a child, Loki, blast him once more until Laufey was just a mess of sparks that dwindles and died.

 

Frigga rushed to Loki, a smile on her face, “You saved him.” The hug was short lived and whatever Loki had been planning to say cut short as Thor entered the room, Loki could feel his emotions and cursed himself and not making sure that he had been distracted long enough, and after blasting the thunder God from the room he quickly made his way to the stables and then onto the Bifrost.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Jane stared up at the sky as the dark clouds kept building and building, praying that Thor would be safe and come back to her, she kept her silent vigil on the skies, ignoring both Darcy and Eric’s attempts at talking to her. Circling the markings on the ground she kept her eyes on the sky, _please be safe Thor._

 

~~^v^~~

 

Agent Coulson watched as the Quinjet took off, taking both his frozen daughter and Hawkeye, as the ice had enclosed their hands together slowly over the time that the other Agent had kept watch over his underling. Coulson has failed to debrief ‘Dr. Blake’, but did have Agents at a safe distance keeping watch over the two scientists and university student, looking into the distance he could see the storm that was raging and was glad he wasn’t anywhere near it.

 

There was a loud clap of thunder as he watched and then the sky cleared rapidly, his eyes narrowed before shouting orders down his Comm. Link and heading towards the nearest car, he also found he still had to contact the Director, but that could wait until later. He hoped.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Jane, Darcy and Eric stared up at the sky, the clouds clearing rapidly now after the thunder had rolled away.

 

“It’s gone.” The words that had meant to be silent filling the air and both Darcy and Eric walked back to the van, Jane continued to stare at the sky knowing within her that Thor had succeeded but at the cost of probably never seeing her again, at least not in this lifetime.

 

~~^v^~~

 

“Why is she not waking up? Why is the ice not melting?” Natasha spoke calm and collectively which was more than Clint could do especially as he had a heat blanket around him, it seemed the ice was affecting him more that it was Harriet. The medical crew were baffled, everything that they had tried so far worked for a while and then it stopped. It was as if the ice was adapting, growing and evolving with everything that was thrown at it, the scientists were baffled, mainly because it had stopped spreading as soon as it had arrived on the helicarrier and also because it seemed to be in a dormant state at the moment.

 

“We do not know, all vitals are fine, we’re using the same technology that freed Captain Rodgers and yet it seems to be evolving, adapting. “The medical scientist paused, it wasn’t until Natasha raised an eyebrow that he continued, “and it’s evolving like a living thing would, almost as if it were alive somehow.”

 

Natasha hummed at him before she turned to her two friends, managing to keep the smirk of her face at Clint’s unfortunate situation, “How are you holding up?” She asked as she took one of the vacant seats (probably one that Phil had sat in at one point).

 

“J-j-j-j-just p-p-p-peachy.” Clint replied, shivering violently as the ice seemed to slowly move up his arm a bit before stopping, at the moment it had reached his elbow and he was sure it was going to fully cover him in a few days, or hours. He wasn’t very optimistic.

 

“They are doing the best that they can, at least until they know what they are dealing with properly.” She paused and her blue eyes narrowed, “Did the ice just move?”

 

Clint shuddered as he stared at Natasha without comprehension, what the spider mad? Of course the ice wasn’t bloody melting, it’s one of the reasons he was turning into an Agent-cicle too, “N-N-N-Nat?” She shushed him as she leaned forward and stared at his arm intently, he followed her gaze and realised that yes the ice was receding, and yes he was getting feeling back in his fingers. He flexed them against Harriet’s hand and there was a flurry of ice particles as the ice disappeared from both his arm and hand. Without jostling Harriet too much he pulled his hand away and blew on it, only to stop and watch as the ice covered the now exposed hand of the witch and move to fully encase her in ice, almost like it was protecting her.

 

“What the?” Clint and Natasha shared a look before they both stood and rushed out of the room for the scientists; they needed to know about this before they had to report to Fury that one of their best assets had just turned into an ice sculpture, a living ice sculpture.

 

~~^v^~~

 

“You have all been re-assigned.”

 

“What?”

“Why?”

“No.”

 

“What about Harriet?” Three voices spoke in unison and Fury resisted the urge to rub his temples, where he could feel a headache the size of a tsunami inducing earthquake was making itself known.

 

“Agent Coulson will be fine in the medical care that we have here on the Helicarrier. As for the reassignments it seems that we cannot have you all idle while there seems to be a war coming.” The three Agents stayed silent, and for that Fury was grateful, sliding three manila folders across his desk to the three he waited as they picked them up and read the first page.

 

“Barton, Coulson you are to head to the Mojave Desert and keep an eye on Project Pegasus. Dismissed,” He paused, “Romanoff, Stay.” He waited for the men to leave before giving his second best field Agent her proper debriefing.


	22. Chapter 21

Harriet Coulson: Avenger

Chapter 21

Loki was falling, drifting along the shadow paths of the Yggdrasil until suddenly it stopped, he landed in a place he knew nothing about, a place he wished he’d never seen. It was dark and cold and objects moved about the rocky outcrops, hidden from sight and unknown to him, Loki sneered at the shapes. How dare they hide from the King of Asgard!

 

“Welcome, Loki.” He turned to the thing that had spoken before his world filled with memories, and then after seeing his Queen’s face; darkness.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Phil Coulson could remember the last time he’d been in the hidden room at the back of the ward within the New York HQ, it had been just after they had found Captain America and he’d been excited to see the man who’d inspired him to become an Agent. He could remember that Harriet had smiled indulgently at him before deciding that she too wanted to meet the man who made her father who he was today. He remembered sitting in the observation room, piling question upon question at the medics before Harriet had asked if they could go into the room to see him up close. They had been allowed and Phil could remember the joy at seeing his childhood hero, now he felt a pain in his chest at the ice sculpture that his daughter had become in the very same room where his hero had once slept.

 

“Happy Birthday Harriet.” He spoke quietly, not wanting to wake both Clint and Natasha who had fallen asleep sometime before midnight. It seemed that for the third year in a row he was unable to be a part of his daughter’s birthday, the first time because of Fury, the second because of her disappearing act and this time because of some alien who called himself a school teacher.

 

“You’re twenty years old and still I remember that little girl who didn’t want to go to magic school.” He smiled and then frowned, “I have something I need to talk to you about when you wake up, but I’m sure it can wait for a while. Just get better Harriet, we need you more than you know.” He stared at the clear ice that showed his daughters face, peaceful in her sleep; in her incarceration. Nothing they did was working anymore, and with every hour more ice spread, trapping her forever in a crystal tomb.

 

“We have a mission tomorrow,” he looked at the clock on the wall, “Well later today, it shouldn’t take long and then we’ll be back telling you all about our trips and wishing you had been there, making us laugh and causing mischief.”

 

~~^v^~~

 

Fury stared out of the helicopter as he flew carefully but quickly to the base in the Mojave Desert, he’d received a call from Agent Coulson only an hour earlier to say that something was happening and he needed to be there. As they came over the crest of the hill he shared a glance with Agent Hill across from him and took a breath, they landed and he emerged quickly.

 

“How bad is it?”

 

“That’s the problem sir, we don’t know.” Agent Coulson was then quick to lead them inside of the building and towards the chamber that housed the Tesseract.

 

“Doctor Selvig read and energy surge from the Tesseract about four hours ago”.

 

“NASA didn’t authorise Selvig to go to test phase.” Fury also wondered why it had taken three hours to contact him from the original spike.

 

“He wasn’t testing it; in fact he wasn’t even in the room.” Coulson continued, Hill followed from behind an eyebrow rose in response, “Spontaneous event.”

 

“It just turned itself on?”

 

“Where are the energy levels now?” Fury asked overriding Agent Hill and getting back onto the main situation at hand, who cares if the thing turned itself on they needed to shut it down.

 

“Climbing. When Selvig couldn’t shut it down, we ordered evac.” Coulson continued. Fury suppressed a sigh, what was the point of sticking Selvig on the project if the man couldn’t install a bloody off switch first?

 

“How long to get everyone out?”

 

“Campus should be clear in the next half-hour.”

 

“Do better.” Coulson nodded and then moved away to order a quicker evac.

 

“Sir, evacuation may be futile.” Agent Hill spoke as they made their way down the winding staircase that would take them closer to the underground chamber where the Tesseract was.

 

“We should tell them to go back to sleep?”

 

“If we cannot control the Tesseract’s energy there may be no minimum safe distance.”

 

“I need you to make sure that the Phase 2 prototypes are shipped out.”

 

“Sir, is that really a priority right now?” Fury felt a headache coming on.

 

“Until such a time as the world’s ends, we will continue as if it plans to spin on. Clear out the tech below. Every piece of Phase 2 on a truck and gone.”

 

“Yes, sir” Agent Hill spoke quietly as she walked passed him to carry out his order’s, Fury sighed aloud before entering the Tesseract chamber.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Clint had been watching everything from his perch in the rafters ever since the damn cube decided it wasn’t to act up, he couldn’t believe he was doing a bodyguard duty while Harriet was still encased in ice and Natasha was off having fun with the Russian government. It sucked; he wasn’t even allowed to pull any pranks because old man Selvig noticed before he even did anything. He sighed, if Harriet was there they’d be having a blast, but no, he was stuck looking after a stupid glowing cube, and if Selvig said one more time he should act his age (a very respectable twenty-seven years of age) he’d shoot him with an exploding arrow, as soon as Coulson gave it back. He tapped the gun on his thigh as Fury entered the room, and watched him speak to Selvig until Fury called him over the Comm. Link.

 

“I gave you this detail so you could keep an eye on things.” Clint snorted in his head, _yeah right_.

 

“Well, I see better from a distance.”

 

“Have you seen anything that might set this thing off?”

 

“Doctors, it’s spiking again.” Clint briefly glanced at the physicist before turning back to Fury.

 

“No one’s come or gone. And Selvig’s clean. No contacts, no IMs. If there was any tampering, sir, it wasn’t at this end.”

 

“’at this end’?”

“Yeah, the Cube is a doorway to the other end of space, right? Doors open from both sides.” Clint watched a Fury’s eye widened a little; it seems as if the Director hadn’t thought of that. There was a pulse of energy from the cube that made Clint step back a little his arms unfolding themselves so her could reach his weapons better. Watching the Cube carefully he held his breath, whatever was coming wasn’t going to be good.

 

A beam of blue light shot towards the other end of the room where a dais had been built for no purpose other than for when testing began properly, now a globe was building, like a doorway or a portal to the other side of space. Fury watched the globe become bigger until the energy had built to the point where it burst forth covering the room in a shockwave of aquamarine blue energy before it gathered in the ceiling above the dais. Fury looked down and saw a figure struggling to stand, his eye narrowed.

 

“Sir, please put down the spear.” He watched at the figure looked to his hand as if realising it was there before sending a blast of blue energy towards him. Clint pushed the director out of the way while the other Agents within the room returned fire, Clint got off a shot before dodging another blast of cosmic energy, everyone stopped while Fury began to stand once more, the figure now much closer than they had been.

 

Clint stood before his hand was grabbed by the stranger and for the first time they spoke, “You have heart.”  Clint frowned slightly as the tip of the spear was placed against his chest, it felt like that one time Harriet had practised Legimancy except it was painful, and then his world went dark before Clint found himself trapped within his mind. A puppet with strings.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Fury watched from near the Tesseract as Barton became compromised, grabbing the cube from its place now that it had stopped spiking and placing it in a silver case and closing it up.

 

“Please don’t. I still need that.”

 

“This doesn’t have to get any messier.”

 

“Of course it does. I’ve come too far for anything else.” Fury turned to face the strangely clothed man, “I am Loki, of Asgard and I am burdened with glorious purpose.” The name rang a few bells in Fury’s head before Selvig spoke from where he’d been checking over the fallen.

 

“Loki, brother of Thor.”

 

“We have no quarrel with your people.” Fury spoke before Selvig could make the situation worse, especially with the look Loki had on his face.

 

“An ant has no quarrel with a boot.”

 

“Are you planning to step on us?”

 

“I come with glad tidings of a world made free.”

 

“Free from what?”

 

“Freedom. Freedom is life’s great lie. Once you accept that, in your heart” Loki spun and touched the tip of the spear to Selvig’s chest, doing to him what he’d done to Clint and another Agent, “You will know peace.”

 

“Yeah you say ‘peace’ I kind of think you mean the other thing.”

 

“Sir, Director Fury is stalling.” Barton spoke and Fury resisted the urge to jump, he’d been so quiet for once, “this place is about to blow and drop a hundred feet of rock on us. He means to bury us.”

 

“Like the pharaohs of old.” He was starting to get annoyed and the headache was coming back with a vengeance.

 

“He’s right. The portal is collapsing in on itself. We’ve got maybe two minutes before this goes critical.”

 

“Well then,” Loki turned to Barton who raised his gun and shot Fury squarely in the chest causing him to let go of the case and fall to the ground.”

 

~~^v^~~

 

The medics rushed into the hidden room at the end of the ward, around two minutes ago an alarm had gone off telling them that the occupant was losing the battle with the ice. They’d turned all the heaters within the room to their highest setting, even calling in a team of midi-witches and wizards to help combat the living ice. Nothing had worked and now, with the alarms blearing around them they placed open flames to the ice, trying to heat the body underneath the layers, playing that this time they’d get through and be able to free the Agent underneath.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Natasha’s mission had been going smoothly, up until three hours ago, now she was tied to a char balanced near a fall that would kill her if they decided she was of no use and listening to an idiot talk to her in Russian. She’d escaped to the US to get away from idiots like these, it’s a shame she was the only one other than Harriet who could handle these types of missions.

 

“You may have to write it down.” Natasha inwardly rolled her eyes at the switch to English before there was a ringing from a pocket of one of the thugs. She briefly glanced towards him, before the phone was handed to the idiot.

 

“ _You’re at 1-14 Silensky Plaza, 3 rd floor. We have and F-22 exactly eight miles out. Put the woman on the phone or I will blow up the block before you can make the lobby.”_ Natasha smiled as the phone was placed against her ear, where she held it there with her shoulder. _“We need you to come in.”_

“Are you kidding? I’m working.”

 

“ _This takes precedence_ ”

 

“I’m in the middle of an interrogation, this moron in giving me everything.” She ignored the said moron in front of her, “Look, you can’t pull me out of this right now."

 

_“Natasha… Barton’s been compromised._ ” Natasha waited for anything else; when only silence met her ears she straightened up, “Let me put you on hold.”

 

~~^v^~~

 

Coulson watched as the ice crystal that contained his daughter was rolled past him and into one of the medical bays on the helicarrier; it seemed that while the Tesseract had spiked the ice encasing his daughter had done something to the alarms that surrounded her, both magical and muggle. It was also found that the New York HQ was no longer safe for her, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to allow her to become a laboratory experiment.

 

“Have you told her yet?” Coulson turned to see Fury walking towards him.

 

“Agent Romanoff knows she’s to pick up the big guy while I handle Stark.” Fury nodded.

 

“I meant have you told Agent Coulson about Barton?” Phil blew out a breath and turned back towards the medical bays door, he shook his head, “Maybe you should, and it may give her the incentive to break free.” Fury left and Phil continued to stare at the door.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Harriet could feel the coldness surrounding her and so she buried herself further into the warmth of her magical core, the bright light spreading around her pulsating with her heartbeat. Steady and strong, but there was something else there with her, something that she knew shouldn’t be and so she went out in search of it. For if it was in her core, it had to be magical and it could be as trapped as she was.

 

Moving closer she was stuck with how cold it was, and tried to go back but it seemed as if her magic needed her to go on and so she did. Getting colder and colder until she arrived in a desolate place, all dark and gloomy like a cave only dry, she called her magic forth to create a light and that was when she saw it. A small child huddled in a corner, knees gathered to their chest and their arms wrapped around them, the child was wearing green and grey in a medieval style. Harriet crouched and moved forward her hand reaching out, and stopped as red eyes stared up at her from a face that was blue in colour.


	23. Chapter 22

Harriet Coulson: Avenger

Chapter 22

Natasha waited as patiently as she could in a little hut on the outskirts of Calcutta, the current location of one Dr Bruce Banner at least that was what she’d been told on the flight over. She’d managed to change clothes and now stood silently in the shadows as she waited for the child to come back with the man in question. She took a deep breath, she wished that she’d gotten Stark that way she wouldn’t be as anxious but with the amount of Agents stationed around the small hut and the guns that she had hidden in different places within the hut, she thought she’d be fine.

 

She watched the child dart through the room, with only a glance towards her, before her focus was solely upon the man that was looking on in acceptance and resignation.

 

“You should’ve got paid up front, Banner.” _Showtime_.

 

“You know, for a man who is surpassed to be avoiding stress you picked a hell of a place to settle.” Natasha stepped out from behind the flimsy curtain and pulled her red shall around her a little tighter.

 

“Avoiding stress isn’t the secret.” Bruce stepped back from the structural support to face this new threat; he could feel the other guy’s restlessness in the back of his head and tried to shake it off.

 

“Then what is it? Yoga?” Bruce had to smile at that, he’d never done yoga in his life and wasn’t going to start now, instead he twisted his hands together in a nervous gesture and to relieve some of the tension the other guy was flooding his mind with.

 

“You brought me to the edge of the city. Smart.” Bruce turned to look out of the small window at the darkened area outside, “I assume the whole place is surrounded.”

 

“Just you and me.” Natasha spoke calmly as she moved forward and discarded the shawl, she was apprehensive but training dictated she does not show it.

 

“And your actress buddy? Is she a spy, too? They start that young?”

 

“Some of us did.”

 

“Who are you?”

 

“Natasha Romanoff.” She was there in a professional capacity, plus she had a feeling he’d be able to tell when she was going to lie.

 

“Are you here to kill me, Ms. Romanoff?” Bruce asked after a pause in which he weighed his options, none of them looked too good at the moment, “Because that’s not going to work out for everyone.”

 

“No, no, of course not.” I’m here on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D.”

 

“S.H.I.E.L.D. How’d they find me?”

 

“We never lost you, Doctor. We’ve kept our distance; even helped keep some other interested parties off your scent.”

 

“Why?” Bruce was a little sceptical as he looked away.

 

“Nick Fury seems to trust you, but now we need you to come in.” Bruce mentally sighed, and therein laid all the problems.

 

~~^v^~~

 

“Who are you?” Harriet paused as she heard the cultured voice reach her; she took a breath and watched it come out in a burst of mist that disappeared quickly.

 

“Harriet Lily Potter Coulson, you?” The child regarded her with red eyes.

 

“I am Loki, son of Odin?”

 

“Are you telling me? Or are you asking me?” Harriet sat on the cold ground, ignoring the temperature as she filled in the blanks, when Loki had hit her with his magic some of it must have transferred to her core. Which was probably why her magic hadn’t dissipated Loki’s magic yet.

 

“Telling you?” He looked confused and Harriet continued to watch as he seemed to come to a decision and stood.

 

“I am Loki, true son of Laufey, adopted son of Odin.” He smiled as he looked to her and she smiled back, she had read that Loki had been adopted as a spoil of war after Laufey had abandoned him to the cold desolate lands of Jotunheim.

 

“Hello Loki,” she held out her hand and was a little startled that when Loki took it his skin morphed from blue to the same pinky tone as her own. She looked up to see his face change to a younger version of what she knew and the surprise that sparked within green eyes.

 

“What magick is this?”

 

“I don’t know Loki, I don’t know.” She looked back at their hands; this was nothing like her abilities.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Fury stood before four large screens, each one depicting someone who was on the council; the people who technically ran S.H.I.E.L.D.

 

_“This is out of line, Director. You’re dealing with forces you cannot control.”_

 

“Have you ever been in a war, Councilman? Or in a fire fight? Did you feel an overabundance of control?”

 

_“You’re saying that this Asgard is declaring war on our planet?”_

 

“Not Asgard. Loki.”

 

_“He cannot be working alone.”_ Fury turned his eye towards the female Councilman on screen, _“What about the other one? His brother.”_

 

“Our intelligence says Thor is not a hostile but he’s worlds away. We can’t depend on him to help either. It’s up to us.”

 

_“This is why you should be focusing on Phase 2. It was designed for exactly this…”_

 

“Phase 2 isn’t ready. Our enemy is.” Fury looked back to the councilman that had spoken in the beginning, “We need a response team.”

 

_“The Avengers initiative was shut down.”_ A third member spoke and Fury had to reign in his temper.

 

“This isn’t about the Avengers.”

 

_“We’ve seen the list. You’re running the world’s greatest covert security network and you’re going to leave the fate of the human race to a handful of freaks.”_

 

“Three of those freaks are some of our best Agents.” Fury took a breath, “I’m not leaving anything to anyone. We need a response team. These people may be isolated, unbalanced even but I believe with the right push they can be exactly what we need.”

 

_“You believe.”_ The female spoke.

 

_“War isn’t won by sentiment, Director.”_

 

“No, it’s won by soldiers.” And with that statement Fury cut the connection and ordered a quinjet to take him to New York.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Things had become interesting for one Mr. Tony Stark of Stark Industries, for one thing he’d managed to stop a robot war with his friend, he’d recently plucked up the courage to ask Pepper to be his girlfriend and he still wanted his gopher back. So as he finished the last piece on the integration of the arc-tech that was to sustain his new building in New York he reflected that, yes, a lot of interesting things had happened to him. Tony burst out of the water near the isle of Manhattan and flew through the buildings on his way back to the tower.

 

“Good to go on this end. The rest is up to you.”

 

_“You disconnected the transmission lines?”_ Pepper’s voice came through Iron Mans helmet, _“Are we off the grid?”_

 

“Stark Tower is about to become a beacon of self-sustaining clean energy.”

 

_“Well, assuming the arc reactor takes over and it actually works.”_

 

“I assume.” Tony turned a corner and saw his tower ahead of him, “Light her up.”

 

_“How does it look?”_

 

“Like Christmas, but with more me.” He smiled, watching the bright glow of ‘Stark’ plastered in the penthouses balcony. He was rather proud of the design, what with it being the only thing that wasn’t meant for war or for him to shout at.

 

_“We’ve got to go wider of the public awareness campaign. You need to do some press.”_ Tony readied himself to fly up the side of the Tower and to his landing pad. _“I’m in D.C. tomorrow; I’m working on the zoning for the next three buildings.”_

 

“Pepper, you’re killing me. The moment, remember?” he landed, “Enjoy the moment.”

 

_“Well get in here and I will.”_

 

_“Sir, Agent Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D. is on the line.”_

 

“Oh, gopher. Well patch her though then, J.A.R.V.I.S. what are you waiting for?”

 

_“It’s not Miss. Harriet, sir. It’s Agent Coulson.”_

 

“I’m not in.” Tony frowned, “actually I’m out.” As he walked along the platform robotic arms lifted from the floor and circled him, taking the Iron Man suit apart piece by piece in a controlled and seamless fashion.

 

_“Sir, I’m afraid he’s insisting.”_

 

“Grow a spine J.A.R.V.I.S. I got a date.” Tony now walked into Stark Tower properly.

 

“Levels are holding steady, I think.”

 

“Of course they are. I was directly involved.” Tony made his way over to Pepper and looked over the holographs for a moment, “Which brings me to my next question. How does it feel to be a genius?” He took out his ear piece as Pepper turned to face him.

 

“Well, I really wouldn’t know, now would I?”

 

“What do you mean? All this came from you.” Tony pointed at her while simultaneously turning off the holographs so he wouldn’t be distracted.

 

“No, all of this came from that.” Pepper pointed at the glowing electro-magnet in his chest that continued to glow.

 

“Give yourself some credit. Please. Stark Tower is your baby.” Tony thought for a moment, “Give yourself 12% of the credit.”

 

“12%?”

 

“An argument could be made for 15.”

 

“12%? My baby?” Pepper moved over to the small table that held two champagne glasses and a cooling bottle of the finest.

 

“Well, I did do all the heavy lifting. Literally, I lifted the heavy things.” Tony followed her, “and, sorry, but the security snafu? That was on you.”

 

“Oh!”

 

“My private elevator…”

 

“You mean our elevator?” Pepper poured them some champagne.

 

“It was teeming with sweaty workmen.” He sat down beside her with a slight grimace, “I’m going to pay for that comment about percentages in some subtle way later, aren’t I?”

 

“I’m not going to be that subtle.” Pepper placed a glass in front of him.

 

“I’ll tell you what. The next building is gonna say “Potts” on the tower.”

 

“On the lease” Pepper went to clink glasses when Tony pulled his away slightly.

 

“Call your mum, can you bunk over?”

 

_“Sir, the telephone. I’m afraid my protocols are being overridden.”_

_“Mr. Stark, we need to talk.”_ Tony picked up his latest Stark phone.

 

“You have reached the life model decoy of Tony Stark. Please leave a message.”

 

_“This is urgent.”_

 

“Then leave it urgently.” The lifts open to show Agent Coulson, “Security breach. It’s on you.”

 

“Mr. Stark.”

 

“Phil! Come in.” Pepper got up to great the man, followed by Tony.

 

“’Phil’? His first name is Agent, also where is my gopher? Dummy is useless at making Coffee.”

 

“Come on in. We’re celebrating.” She paused, “Is Harriet okay?”

 

“That’s one of the things I wanted to talk to you about, but first we need you to look this over as soon as possible.” Phil tried to hand Tony the computer he’d been carrying.

 

“I don’t like being handed things.”

 

“That’s fine, because I love to be handed things. So, let’s trade.” Pepper passed her glass to Phil, and then passed the computer to Tony while taking his glass and a sip of the champagne. “Thank you.”

 

“Official consulting hours are between 8 and 5 every other Thursday; I did hope that Fury would pass that down the ranks.”

 

“This isn’t a consultation.”

 

“Is this about the Avengers?” Phil looked at Pepper, “which I know nothing about.”

 

“The Avengers Initiative was scrapped, I thought.” Tony put the device together as he moved over to where the holographs had been only moments before, “And I didn’t even qualify”

 

“I didn’t know that either.”

 

“Yeah, apparently I’m volatile, self-obsessed, don’t play well with others.”

 

“That I did know.”

 

“This isn’t about personality profiles anymore.” Phil had to stop the comedy act before he was reminded of Harriet again.

 

“Whatever, Ms. Potts, got a second?” Pepper smiled softly before moving to stand where Tony was playing. “You know, I thought we were having a moment.”

 

“I was having 12% of a moment.” Tony just looked at her, “This seems serious. Phil’s pretty shaken and he dodged the question on Harriet.”

 

“How would you know if it’s…? Why is he ‘Phil’?” Tony looked at her again before looking over at Coulson, “Hey, you didn’t say where my gopher was?” he called and watched as Coulson fidgeted a little.

 

“She’s indisposed at the moment.”

 

“What do you mean?” Pepper asked as she turned away from trying to study the information packet.

 

“She suffered a few injuries during her last mission and is on sick leave.” Tony narrowed his eyes, but let it pass for now.

 

“So what is all this.” Pepper asked quietly, knowing they weren’t going to get anything else out of the stoic man; Tony looked back at the computer.

 

“This… Well, it’s this.” He flicked his hands outwards and footage of the different factors that would make up the Avenger’s burst around him, along with information on a cosmic cube, known as the Tesseract.

 

“I’m going to take the jet to D.C. tonight.”

 

“Tomorrow.” Tony was a little shocked, his mind trying to process everything.

 

“You have homework. You have a lot of homework.”

 

Phil watched from the doorway as Virginia Potts and Tony Stark spoke in hushed voices, he looked away quickly at the faces Tony was making when Ms. Potts spoke in his ear.

 

“So any change you’re driving by LaGuardia?”

 

“I can drop you.”

 

“Fantastic.”

 

Tony turned back to the screens and blew out a breath, before grabbing a cubed shape from one of the screens with a frown on his face.


	24. Chapter 23

Harriet Coulson: Avenger

Chapter 23

Loki watched as his new force worked around him, he smirked at the thought of all those who were under his new rule. His people. His subjects, though in the back of his mind there was a black cloud, one that he could not access and after a while stopped trying to. Behind the black smoke within his mind, two pairs of childish hands banged against it, voices muffled and swallowed by the darkness that neither could penetrate.

 

“What are we going to do?” A small boy, of around 10, sighed and slumped to the ground, his green eyes seeing everything his elder counterpart saw but having no interaction with it.

 

“I do not know. This is not something I have any knowledge of.” His companion hummed thoughtfully before sitting beside him, he chanced a glance across to see the same green eyes as his own stare back at him. It seemed strange to have this new entity with him, but ever since he had encountered ‘her’ he didn’t feel as alone or powerless.

 

“Well, we need to snap you out of whatever this is. It’s not right going around and killing people just because they are in your way.” Loki continued to watch as the small face scrunched up slightly on his continued watching; ‘she’ was an intriguing entity and one he found himself becoming protective and fond of.  He was about to speak when the black smoke shifted and he found that they were not where they had once been, he flinched at the blindfolded creature in front of him. He was glad for the thin arms of ‘her’ that fell over his shoulders and he could hide his gaze in a softer cloud of black smoke.

 

~~^v^~~

 

“We’re about forty minutes out from home base, sir.” Agent Coulson nodded his head distractedly and took a deep breath, it wouldn’t do to completely freak out his childhood idol straight away. Even if he had wanted the guy to sign his Captain America Cards, the vintage set that was in great condition with a little boxing around the edges. Taking off his headset he twisted his seat around and stood, stretching his legs a little, before he made his way carefully over to Steve Rogers.

 

“So, this Dr. Banner was trying to replicate the serum they used on me?” Phil placed his hand in one of the handles and stopped.

 

“A lot of people were. You were the world’s first superhero. Banner thought gamma radiation was the key to unlocking Erskine’s original formula.” He waited a beat.

 

“I didn’t really go his way, did it?”

 

“Not so much.” He paused again, “When he’s not that thing, though, the guys like a Stephen Hawking.” Steve looked confusedly up at him, “He’s like a really smart person.”

 

“I gotta say.” Phil wanted to stop his mouth but it seemed as if his training had failed him, “It’s an honour to meet you officially. I sort of met you, me and my daughter. I mean,” he took a breath, “I watched you while you were sleeping.”

 

_Shut up! Shut up!_ he thought as Steve looked away uncomfortably in front of him, “I mean, I was present while you were unconscious from the ice.”

 

Steve got up from his seat and moved towards the main console, hoping against hope that they would arrive soon, or the Agent would at least stop talking for a while.

 

“Y’know, it’s really just a huge honour to have you on board on this…”

 

“Well, I hope I’m the man for the job.”

 

“Oh, you are.” Coulson nodded quickly while his mind spewed insults at himself, “Absolutely. We made some modifications to the uniform. I had a little design input.”

 

“The uniform?” Steve looked Coulson in the eye and Phil felt his heart speed up a little, “aren’t the stars and stripes a little old-fashioned?”

 

“With everything that’s happening and the things that are about to come to light, people might just need a little old-fashioned.”

 

Steve clenched his jaw and looked away. That was what he was afraid of.  

 

~~^v^~~

 

Natasha Romanoff waited patiently for the aircraft to land before she walked towards the opening hanger,  she could see the excitement rolling off of her handler as he stepped down with ‘Captain America’. All she could see was his big blue eyes and the sincerity in his gaze, she wondered how this man became the legend that everyone knew.

 

“Agent Romanoff, Captain Rogers.” Coulson nodded to the man beside him and she came to a stop.

 

“Ma’am.”

 

“Hi. They need you on the bridge. They’re starting the face-trace.” Coulson could hear the uncertainty in her voice and nodded.

 

“See you there.” He moved between the two, he also had a daughter to check up on.

 

“It was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice.” She started to walk towards another aircraft that was landing; Steve ducked his head and followed, “thought Coulson was going to swoon.” She smiled slightly, “Lucky his daughter could rein him in really.” Steve looked sharply across at the red head, but she didn’t say anything more.

 

“He has a daughter?” Natasha nodded.

 

“She’s a good Agent, recovering from injuries at the moment. Hopefully you can meet her.” She looked slyly at him out of the corner of her eye, “Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?”

 

“Trading cards?” Steve was a little confused, weren’t they just talking about Agent Coulson’s daughter?

 

“They’re vintage. He’s very proud.” They came to stop as a man walked past another aircraft, nervously wringing his hands looking at everything around him, and dodging out of the way of some of the pilots.

 

“Dr. Banner.” Steve held out his hand.

 

“Ah, yeah. Hi.” Bruce took his hand and shook for a few seconds looking the man up and down, “They told me you would be coming.”

 

“Word is you can find the Cube.”

 

“Is that the only word on me?” Bruce shifted in place and took another look around.

 

“The only word I care about.” Bruce nodded, taking note of Agent Romanoff in the background on her Comm. Link.

 

“It must be strange for you, all of this.”

 

“Well, this is actually kind of familiar.” Steve stepped beside the doctor and smiled nostalgically.

 

“Gentlemen, you might want to step inside a minute.” Natasha stopped just behind them, “it’s going to get a little hard to breathe.”

 

_“Flight Crew, secure the Deck.”_

Steve and Bruce looked around in a slight panic as sirens went off and the ship jolted a little.

 

“Is this a submarine?” Steve walked towards the edge a little, with Bruce falling into step beside him.

 

“Really? They want me in a submerged, pressurised, metal container?” Natasha watched as they moved to the edge and looked over as the ship became the Helicarrier, or the main HQ.

 

“Oh, no. This is much worse.” There was a slightly musical lilt to Bruce’s voice, and Natasha couldn’t help but think that if Harriet had been there she would have clapped him on the back and then laughed.

 

~~^v^~~

 

While Natasha led Bruce and Steve to the main conference and control room, Phil was sat by the frozen bedside of his daughter. The monitors beeped around him, reminding him that even though it looked hopeless she was still alive. She was still with him.

 

“I saw Captain America today.” He paused and looked towards the door, “He was nice, better than nice he was exactly what I’ve grown up being told he was.” He smiled and let his excitement bounce him in his seat a bit.

 

“I think you would like him. He’s respectable, a trait not many possess these days.” He paused and watched a shard of ice move across his daughters’ body, “We’ve stepped up the time line, the Avengers are about to become something. We have Banner, Natasha, and Steve all here.”

 

Phil turned towards one of the monitors and stood, it wasn’t going to be easy telling her about Barton, he didn’t want to do it. “Stark will probably arrive in a shower of sparks and drama soon, and Barton has been compromised.” He heard the beep of the machines and turned to see the ice grow faster, he exited the room just as the sirens went off.

 

“Tell her he said, it might help he said.” Phil scowled as he headed to the command centre, “No it bloody didn’t.”

 

~~^v^~~

 

Upon entering the room Natasha ignored everyone and moved to one of the screens showing the progress on them finding Barton, it felt like Harriet all over again except this time she didn’t have anyone with which to share her spare time with. She listened to the standard take off procedures and the saw Coulson move into her peripheral, he shook his head and she sighed looking back at the screens.

 

“Gentlemen.” Fury turned and watched as Steve handed him $10, he mentally sighed and pocketed it as he moved towards Banner, “Doctor, thank you for coming.” He held out his hand and watched the man warily glance at it before shaking.

 

“Thanks for asking nicely. So, how long am I staying?” Fury turned his head slightly and then faced him again.

 

“As soon as we get the Tesseract, you’re in the wind.” Bruce nodded slightly and moved away from Fury towards the railing.

 

“Where are you with that?” He looked down towards another person in a suit.

 

“We’re sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cell phones, laptops. If it’s connected to a satellite, it’s eyes and ears for us.”

 

“It’s still not going to find them in time.” Natasha spoke up and Bruce nodded.

 

“You have to narrow your field. How many spectrometers do you have access to?”

 

“How many are there?” Fury replied and Bruce smiled softly as he took off his jacket, getting himself ready for work.

 

“Call every lab you know. Tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I’ll rough out a tracking algorithm, basic cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places.” Fury nodded and gestured to Natasha.

 

“Agent Romanoff, show Dr. Banner to his laboratory please.” Natasha nodded and moved towards the doors, she waited for Bruce to near her before leaving.

 

“You’re going to love it Doc, it has all the toys.”

 

~~^v^~~

 

“Clint?” Loki turned to the entity beside him, it had been a while since they had spoken but the figure wasn’t looking at him, ‘she’ was facing the barrier seeing the world outside of their captivity. ‘She’ banged on the smoke wall; they both knew it was useless; neither had made any progress in alerting anyone to their presence. He watched as ‘she’ called out to the one named Clint, he turned and listened to the conversations outside their chamber.

“It is no use. They cannot hear us.”

 

“We have to try. Clint… He’s different, his eyes.” They watched as the dark smoke covered their vision again and made their world smaller, they huddled together and Loki held ‘her’ until a time as she stopped crying.

 

“We will find a way, but for now we must wait, watch and learn.”

 

~~^v^~~

 

The classical strands of the string quartet set the mood beautifully, or so Loki thought as he watched those below him mingle and drink. He didn’t worry about that, he’d come here for one thing, and one thing only. He needed that eye. As the music built he hit one of the guards with his staff and dragged a man over to the strategically placed alter.

 

He watched with vindictive pleasure as the humans scattered as he placed the instrument against the man’s eye, ignoring the continued struggle as the eye was carefully taken and examined so that Barton could get the iridium needed to stabilise the tesseract. The door wasn’t open yet, but it would be. He left the man to his suffering as his illusion fell around him, walking towards the entrance to the building he stepped into the night air.

 

What a night to announce his ownership of these pathetic creatures and their planet. He smirks as the final strands of the song end and he thought he could hear banging inside of his mind.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Harriet allowed a small flame to grow in front of her, to keep both her and the child within her core warm. The cold was getting worse, she felt the moment her magic made progress only for the power of the Asgardian to overcome it. She knew that soon one would win, and she would either survive or she wouldn’t.

 

“This magick you have.” She looked into eyes almost as green as her own and smiled softly, “Have you had it long?”

 

“All my life, I was lucky to have teachers to help me control it.” The child nodded and looked at the flames that rested on the ground between them.

 

“Could you show me how you did that? Could you teach me?” Harriet was taken aback, though she should have guess he’d want a teacher, in the legends it was said the Frigga had taught him about his magic, that their bond was as strong as any mother and child.

 

“I could, but we’d need to get somewhere warmer.” She watched as Loki nodded and stood as he brushed the imaginative dust from his clothes, and stood as well. She held out her hand and felt him clasp hers tightly.

 

“I’m scared.” She looked down at him and squeezed his hand gently.

 

“I’m here; there is nothing to be afraid of.” Harriet watched as he nodded and they faced the darkness of her magical core together, maybe that was how she was going to break free of the ice.

 

~~^v^~~

 

“Loki has been caught. He was the one behind the Tesseract being taken.” Natasha paused, “He’s the one that took Barton from us.”

 

The machines continued to beep on, she roved her eyes across the numbers taking none of it in, just knowing that Harriet was alive was enough. She turned to the bed, it wasn’t much of a bed now, just a block of ice which could no longer be moved, and she could barely see her friend anymore. She turned as she heard the door open and Agent Hill stepped inside.

 

“We need you to go to work.” Natasha nodded and moved towards the door, pausing she looked back at the block of ice and in a show of emotion placed her hand on Hill’s shoulder and squeezed. Every day looked more hopeless than the last.

 

Hill heard the door close as Natasha went to the cell in which Loki had been placed. Maria Hill had promised herself that she wouldn’t visit Harriet until the day when the ice had gone and that the girl was talking, but looking at the block in front of her she did not believe that her friend was coming back.

 

“Why do you always go somewhere in which we cannot follow?” Maria sat in the vacant chair and waited she had time before she had to return to her post.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Captain Steve Rodgers wasn’t one to normally disobey orders, but after the chat with Dr. Banner and Tony Stark in the lab he had to admit that something did smell funky. A whole lot of funky and he planned to find out why. That was why he was carefully entering a secure location on the Helicarrier in search of the truth; he also didn’t put much stock in computers.

 

It was quiet, and cold, and as he made his way through the storage units he couldn’t help but think back to all those missions he did back in the day. He smiled softly and ducked into the shadows as a patrol unit went past, two people heavily armed, he breathed out a sigh of relief as they passed without noticing him. This might be a little trickier that he thought, as he landed on a lower deck and began to open the different crates. He began to get more and more frustrate as he continued to search until he opened one and saw the familiar weaponry he had come to hate with a passion. Hydra technology.

 

~~^v^~~

 

“So, Banner. That’s your play.” Loki watched from behind the smoke as the ‘girl’ grinned beside him and got up to do a little victor dance, he was confused. What did a banner have to do with the plans that his other had been creating?

 

“Go Natasha!” He continued to watch as the girl danced in circles, pure delight evident on her face.

 

“I do not understand.” She stopped and looked at him, her smile dazzling in the darkness surrounding them.

 

“She’s figured part of his plan, which means they,” She gestured to the space outside, “know how to fight it. Which means we have to try harder to break free” He watched her step up to the smoke screen and bang upon it once more, sparks shot across the screen and his eyes widened.

 

“We just need a little magick.” He muttered and summoned his power to his hands as he began once more to get through to his counterpart, he knew instinctively that the girl would be gone as well, but he wanted out of this godforsaken cage.

 

~~^v^~~

 

“What are you doing, Mr. Stark?” Fury spoke as he strode across the laboratory to face the two men, who were nonchalantly looking at the screen in front of them.

 

“Kind of been wondering the same thing about you.” Tony spoke, barely taking his eyes off of the screen.

 

“You’re supposed to be locating the Tesseract.”

 

“We are. The model’s locked and we’re sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit, we’ll have the location within half a mile.” Bruce pointed to a machine in the back and Fury turned slightly to see it before turning back.

 

“Where’s my gopher?”

 

“She’s on medical leave.” Fury replied.

 

“Sure. Is that why she’s being monitored in the med bay of this craft? Also what is ‘Phase 2’?

 

“Phase 2 is S.H.I.E.L.D. uses the Cube to make weapons.” Steve spoke as he placed a Hydra weapon on a spare table; he watched them all look at him, “Sorry, computer was moving a little slow for me.”

 

“Rodger’s we gathers everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean that we’re making…”

 

“I’m sorry, Nick. What were you lying?” Tony pressed a tab on the screen and spun it to face both Fury and Steve; Bruce stepped from behind the lap table and looked at the screen.

 

“I was wrong, Director. The world hasn’t changed a bit.” Steve said as Natasha and Thor both stepped into the room. Outside Coulson stepped back from entering and decided that being in a room full of hostile people wouldn’t be for the best, he watched as Maria Hill walked past him back to the command room and decided that maybe Harriet would like some company, even if she was on ice.


	25. Chapter 24

Harriet Coulson: Avenger

Chapter 24

When the first explosion went off, Coulson’s first thought was protect Harriet, and so he did. Covering as much of the ice with his body he shielded her from particles of dust, it seemed the explosion wasn’t as far back as them, that also meant that Fury would need him in action.

 

“Sorry Harriet, I’ve got to go to work.” He stood and straightened his suit jacket before heading towards the armoury; he listened to the communication between everyone on the ship. He dodged out of the way when Stark and Rodgers raced past him, and went down another set of stairs, he heard that an engine was down and knew it wouldn’t be long until the next one went down as well.

 

~~^v^~~

 

“It’s breaking.” Loki looked at the cracks in the smoke screen, ignoring everything on the outside he smiled and received a smile in return.

 

“Let’s get out of here.” He nodded and continued to attack the barrier with both his fists and magick. They had to get out, the madness needed to stop.

 

~~^v^~~

 

It took longer than Harriet thought it would to get back to the warmth of her magical core, and even longer to coax Loki away from the bright flame in the centre.

 

“My magick is nothing like this.” He sounded in awe of her and she smiled and ruffled his hair.

 

“It is impressive but there’s something else I would like you to look at.” She led him to the darkened part of her core, the one that smelled of death and fear, Loki shrank back from it and his skin turned blue once more.

 

“That is not a part of me.” She hesitated, “I’ve had it with me for as long as I can remember, but it’s the ice next to it that has me worried.” She brought him around the darkness that oozed with a green smoke to the ice that had become lodged between the flame of her core and the darkness that poisoned it.

 

Loki stepped from beside her and approached the ice, it moved towards him as if seeking its owner. Harriet watched his face light up just as the ice encircled his body, and then she knew no more.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Natasha was having a bad day, it had started out okay and it had quickly gone to hell in a hand basket. She’d survived a tangle with the Other Guy, barely, and now she had to face Barton, the one she had trusted on the field, the one who had treated her as an equal. The one that had been compromised.

 

_He looks like shit_ ; she spotted Barton just ahead of her and knew she had to be the one to win this sparring match. She dislodged his bow before an arrow could pierce her and used her acrobatic skills to keep out of the range of fire. With his bow and arrow he couldn’t fire with close combat, she knew that, she knew that he knew that and so they began their game of cat and mouse.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Loki was free, Coulson knew that the moment he spotted Thor in the container meant for Banner, it was easy to dispatch the guard and he lifted his weapon and trained it on Loki.

 

“Move away, please.” He stepped forward and Loki appeared to do as he asked, “You like this? We started working on the prototype after you sent the Destroyer. Even I don’t know what it does.” He pressed the button to begin charging the weapon in his hands, “Do you want to find out?”

 

There was a crack of displaced air, just as Coulson felt something pierce through his body. He looked across to see Loki, and just behind him the green eyes of his daughter, he smiled. She’d finally made it out of the ice.

 

“NO!”

 

~~^v^~~

 It wasn’t easy for Loki to continue to crack the glass; it just became a little harder because the girl suddenly disappeared. He’d paused when the light had blinded him, before looking through the spider web of cracked glass to see his companion on the outside.  “You’re free.” He whispered his hand flat against barrier as his skin changed not knowing which colour to choose. When his world went dark he tried shouting again, he was ignored but could see the barrier weakening and so pushed what was left of his magic harder, faster. His hands became bloodied on the shards that fell, his voice became hoarse. He wanted out! This isn’t the person he was meant to be! 

~~^v^~~

 

“DAD!”

 

Loki shimmered to where his illusion had been, and slammed his hand down on the big red button to release Thor’s cage just as a wave of magic blasted into him from behind, he spun a snarl on his lips as a fist cracked his nose and sent him to the ground.

 

“You bastard.” He felt a kick connect with his torso and sent a blast of his own magic at his attacker, they went flying and he heard a thump near Coulson’s body. Loki stood and stared down at the broken body of Agent Coulson, just as a blast from his weapon sent him through a wall.

 

“Dad.” Harriet slid across the ground to her father, her hair was a mess but that didn’t matter to Phil as he took in her living and breathing as she pushed the weapon from his grip.

 

“So, that’s what is does.” Harriet smiled and applied pressure to his wounds, muttering under her breath all the healing spells she knew, he lifted his hand and brushed a strand of hair from her face. She looked him in the eyes and he smiled before his world went dark.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Natasha slipped under Barton’s arm, the bow was long gone but he wielded a dagger now and there was no way she was letting him win. They were at a tie, she was exhausted and just as he got the upper hand she ducked and bit his arm, it gave her enough time you flip him round and lodge his head against the yellow bar of the railing beside them.

 

“Natasha?” he looked dazed, but the inhuman blue was still in his eyes so she punched him again for good measure, he didn’t get back up.

 

~~^v^~~

 

“ _Agent Coulson is down_.” Maria shooed the medical personnel away from her and stood, her finger to her ear as she made her way to Harriet’s room.

 

“ _A medical team is on its way to you location._ ” Steve’s voice, she began to jog, still listening.

 

“ _They’re here._ ” There was a pause, _“They called it.”_  Maria sped up until she slipped on the floor, it was wet. There was a trail that stopped where she stood; she carefully made her way to the room, holding onto the wall. Looking in she saw the ice had been blasted open, the machines all broken. Harriet was nowhere to be seen.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Tony was quiet as he sat at the table, Rodger’s was two seats away and just as silent as they had been when they’d arrived fifteen minutes ago. He was shocked, the ever stoic man who had forced him to watch super nanny was gone, and his gopher didn’t know because she was trapped in a block of ice. He’d seen the footage, he knew she wasn’t going to be as lucky as Captain America, she had no super serum to sustain her though it.

 

Fury stood at the head of the table, something clutched in his hands, “These were in Phil Coulson’s jacket. Guess he never did get you to sign them.” He threw them on the table and Steve looked at the picture of himself, blood coated the image.

 

“We’re dead in the air up here. Our communications, the location of the Cube, Banner, Thor, Harriet.” Tony looked up, “I got nothing for you.”

 

“Who’s Harriet?” Steve looked confused.

 

“She’s Agent Coulson’s daughter, and a fellow Agent. She went missing the same time that we were attacked.” Steve nodded to Agent Hill, even as Fury glared at her.

 

“I thought she was on ice?” Tony spoke and Fury sighed.

 

“She was blasted out, whether by her own means or Loki’s we do not know.” Tony nodded and Fury continued, “I lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that coming. Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number, though because I was playing something ever riskier.”

 

Tony looked at the floor as Fury stepped around the table to lean on one of the chairs near Rodger’s, “There was an idea, Stark knows this, called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring a group of remarkable people together to see if they could become something more. To work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could.”

 

Fury stopped to lean on the chair between the two men, “Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea. In heroes.” Tony stood and left the room, “Well, it’s an old fashioned notion.”

 

~~^v^~~

 

“Clint. You’re going to be alright.” Natasha sat on a chair next to him as he shook his head trying to dislodge the last vestiges of the magic which had trapped him inside his own mind.

 

“You know that?” He clenched his fists feeling the restraints, “Is that what you know? I’ve got no window. I have to flush him out.”

 

“You’ve got to level out, it’s going to take time.” She stood to pour a drink.

 

“You don’t understand. Have you ever had someone take your brain and play?” He watched Natasha come back into his line of view, “Pull you out and stuff something else in? Do you know what it’s like to be unmade?”

 

“You know that I do.”

 

“Why am I back?”

 

“Cognitive recalibration.” They both looked towards the door, where Harriet stood. Her hair was wet and she was in a fresh S.H.I.E.L.D. suit designed specifically for her and her needs. Natasha took in the wand strapped to her forearm and the firearm to her thigh, within two steps she swept the younger woman into her arms and held tight.

 

“Не пугайте нас, как , что.” (Do not scare us like that.) “I shall try; I didn’t know I was going to be out for more than a year.” “How did you get him out?” Clint was struggling to keep focused as the two women parted and the door closed behind Harriet as she stepped into the room properly.  “I hit you really hard on the head.”  “Thanks.” He watched as Harriet undid his restraints and watched Natasha struggle with something she wanted to say. “What happened Natasha?” “My father was killed by Loki.” Harriet spoke quietly and Clint snapped his gaze towards her, taking in her eyes and the grief there he opened his arms and watched his long-time friend hug him nearly to death. He didn’t care that his shirt was getting wet, or that Natasha had sat behind the girl and was hugging her in her own way. All three were filled with the grief of losing someone they all looked at as a father and mentor.

 

~~^v^~~

 “Was he married?” “No.” Tony shook his head, “He only had time for Harriet.”  “I’m sorry. He seemed like a good man.” Steve leaned back and folded his arms over his chest.  “He was an idiot.” Tony snorted and took a few steps back from the edge. “Why? For believing?” “For taking on Loki alone.” “He was doing his job.” “He was out of his league. He should have waited.” Tony stepped closer to Steve, and he could see the other man’s frustration. “He should have...” “Sometimes there isn’t a way out, Tony.” Steve started to walk towards him, “Is this the first time you’ve lost a soldier?” “We are not soldiers!” Tony looked a little taken aback but his outburst, and Steve couldn’t stop the smile that lifted his mouth slightly. Tony turned to the blood stain on the wall, Coulson’s blood, and frowned. “He made it personal.” “That’s not the point.” Steve frowned, “Wait I’m confused. Who made it personal?” “Loki, that’s his point. He hit us all right where we live, why?” “To tear us apart.” Steve was slowly catching on. “Yeah, divide and conquer is great but he knows he has to take us out to win, right? That’s what he wants. He wants to beat us, to be seen doing it.” Tony’s mind was going a mile a minute, “He wants and audience.” “Right, I caught his act in Stuttgart.” “That was just previews. This is opening night, and Loki. He’s a full-tilt diva, right? He wants flowers, he wasn’t a parade. He was a monument built to the skies with his name plastered… Son of a bitch.” Steve was even more confused than before. “He’s got all the energy he needs with my tower. That son of a bitch!”

 

~~^v^~~

 “Time to go.” Steve spoke to Natasha and watched as two people came out of the bathroom, one drying their hands the other drying their face. He frowned, he knew one to be Clint Barton, and the other he had no clue.  “Go where?” He turned back to Natasha.  “I’ll tell you on the way. Can you fly one of those jets?”  “She can’t but I can. Agent Coulson, it’s nice to meet you Captain Rodgers.” He nodded.  “You got suits?” Agent Coulson and Barton nodded.  “Suit up; I’ll see you up top in three.” They nodded and he left, who knew Agent Coulson’s daughter was such a looker. He felt a blush steal across his face and shook his head, he had a mission to do, no fraternising with his co-workers.

 

~~^v^~~

 Maria Hill walked towards Fury with a resigned air.  “Sir, those cards were in Agent Coulson’s locker. I know because I saw him put them there.”  “They needed the push. Any idea where Harriet has gone?” “No sir, she’s practically disappeared once again.” “ _We have an unauthorised departure from Bay 6._ ” “They found him. Get our communications back up, whatever you have to do. And Hill, keep looking for Harriet.” Maria nodded and moved back to her station, she frowned at the folded piece of paper and opened it.   _Hill, Gone to fight the bad guys – Emerald Silhouette._ Maria smirked; once again she knew where Harriet was before Fury.

 

~~^v^~~

 

For a moment Thor thought he’d never survive the fall from the flying ship, the container was strong even he had to admit that. He lay on the ground, catching his breath before closing his eyes. The look of the Lady Coulson’s face would haunt him for the rest of his days, her scream the only sound of his nightmares. No Lady needed to see their father die; no Lady should witness such an atrocity.

 

He stood, brushing his arms off as he started in the direction of Mjolnir; he approached and stared at the Hammer which had been his companion for as long as he’d wielded it. Would he still be worthy? He hesitated; did he even want to be?

 

~~^v^~~

 

Bruce had a headache. It wasn’t the first time, and it most probably wouldn’t be the last either. The last he remembered was Natasha’s face as she was trapped under a metal pipe, he opened his eyes and blinked.

 

“You fell out of the sky.”

 

He sat up and spat the dust from his mouth, acutely aware that he was once again naked in an unknown place; he turned to face the man who had spoken. It was an old gentleman, Bruce noted, with a security uniform that stood just on the lip of the crater his body had made.

 

“Did I hurt anybody?” He asked, the headache pulsing with every beat of his heart.

 

“There’s nobody around here to get hurt.” Bruce nodded but if the security guard was here then he could have been hurt. “You did scare the hell out of some pigeons, though.” He smiled, a strained smile, but still a smile. The Other Guy chuckle as well, but Bruce tried his best to ignore him it was his fault they were in this mess.

 

“Lucky.” Bruce said.

 

“Or just good aim.” The security guard paused, “You were awake when you fell.”

 

“You saw?”

 

“The whole thing. Right through the ceiling, big and green and buck-ass nude.” Bruce nodded, he could tell. His arse was itchy from the dust but he wasn’t comfortable enough to stand in front of the other man, The Other Guy grumbled  and he shook his head slightly. “Here. Didn’t this those would fit you until you shrunk down to a regular-size feller.”

 

Bruce took the offered clothed and immediately put on the pants, the less the man saw of his dick and backside the better. “Thank you.”

 

“Are you an alien?”

 

“What?” Bruce was a little stunned and he felt The Other Guy feel insulted.

 

“From outer space, an alien?”

 

“No.”

 

“Well then, son, you got a condition.” The security guard leaned against some of the rubble and Bruce welt an awkward smile creep across his face as The Other Guy laughed in his mind.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Harriet watched Tony fly ahead of her and smiled, she really owed that man a coffee and a really long chat. She had to admit, when she’d walked out of the bathroom behind Clint earlier she hadn’t expected to see Captain Steve Rodger’s in all his glory. She almost certainly didn’t expect him to look so youthful either; she frowned as she checked the flight control panels.

 

“How’d you get out of the ice?” Her eyes flickered towards Clint, who was her co-pilot.

 

“Loki helped.” She felt Natasha’s eyes on the back of her skull, and the frown that had no doubt bloomed on Clint’s face at her words.

 

“Loki helped?” She heard Steve say and sighed.

 

“His magic was what was keeping me out of action, right? So it stands to reason that a part of that magic was sentinel, it made a connection between us, one that allowed him access to my mind, and mine to his.”

 

“So you saw what he was doing?” Harriet shook her head as she moved the craft between the warehouses on the outskirts of Manhattan.

 

“Not really. I know that I spent time in his head, but it’s not clear. I can’t remember it, not fully anyway. I do remember him being within my mind, in my magical core to be exact.”

 

“What did he do?”

 

“Nothing. I didn’t even know he was there until I turned my mind to my magic to help fight the ice. That was when I noticed a section of my core where light could not touch.” Harriet paused as she tried to find a way to tell them, “He was just a small child, a scared child. He couldn’t understand why he was there.”

 

She heard Clint snort and hit him over the head the same time Natasha did. “The part of his magic was juvenile, he wouldn’t have known about his older self and his current deeds.”

 

“And you haven’t told Fury this because?” Harriet gave Natasha a look, “Right, he still thinks you’re on ice.”

 

“Actually he believes her to be missing.” Steve spoke up, he didn’t understand half of what the Agent was saying but he got the fact that she and Loki had shared minds for a bit.

 

“Good, we love it when the Cyclops doesn’t know everything.” Steve shuddered at the identical looks of mischief on the three Agents faces, he was just glad those looks weren’t directed at him. He wouldn’t stand a chance.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Tony knew it was a bad idea, long before he’d even stepped into the room, his mind had shown him every possible outcome. All of it, ended badly for him.

 

“Please tell me you’re going to appeal to my humanity.”

 

“Actually, I’m panning to threaten you.” Tony paused and decided he wouldn’t be scared; he wouldn’t give Loki the satisfaction. He wouldn’t put it past the god to be able to smell it.

 

“You should have left your armour on for that.” Loki was walking forward without a care in the world and a part of Tony’s mind thought of this as a security breach and pinned it on J.A.R.V.I.S.

 

“Yeah. It’s seen a bit of mileage, and you’ve got the glow stick of destiny.” He carefully stepped down the stairs that lead away from his platform, “Would you like a drink?” he stepped towards his bar, while Loki appeared to preen like a peacock at his glow stick.

 

“Stalling me won’t change anything.”

 

“No, no. Threatening. No drink? Are you sure?” Tony grabbed his most expensive scotch and a glass. “I’m having one.” He watched Loki move to the glass panelling he installed to be able to see the city views.

 

“The Chitauri are coming. What have I to fear?”

 

“The Avengers.” Tony stated and paused to look at the god, “It’s what we like to call ourselves,” he continued with an eye roll as he poured his drink and placed the bottle beside his cuffs for the Mark VII.

 

“Yes, I’ve met them.”

 

“It takes us a while to get any traction, I’ll give you that.” Tony paused, “But let’s do a head count, here. Your brother, the demigod, the super soldier, a living legend that kind of lives up to the legend.” He placed the cuffs on his wrists as Loki turned back to the window in agitation. “A man with breath-taking anger-management issues, a couple of master assassins, my gopher, who you put on ice for a while, and you, big fella, you’ve managed to piss off every single one of them.”

 

“That was the plan.” Loki looked smug, “It’s also a gift.”

 

Tony picked up his glass and rounded the bar to meet Loki halfway, “Not a great plan. When they come, and they will, they’ll come for you.”

 

“I have an army.”

 

“We have a Hulk.”

 

“Oh, I thought the beast had wandered off.”

 

“You’re missing the point.” Tony kept moving forward even if everything in him told him to run, “There is no throne. There is no version of this where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes, and maybe it’s too much for us, but it’s all on you.”

 

“Tony stopped and took a sip of his drink, “Because if we can’t protect the Earth, you can be damn well sure we’ll avenge it.”

 

“How will your friends have time for me when their so busy fighting you?” Loki stepping into his personal space and placed the glow stick of destiny against the arc reactor in his chest. There was a slight clink of metal on glass before Loki did it again, a look of confusion on his face. “This usually works.”

 

“Performance issues, it’s not uncommon.  One out of five…” Tony was cut off as Loki grabbed him by the neck and threw him to the floor by the windows.

 

“Anytime now J.A.R.V.I.S.” He was picked up again and he felt his feet leave the ground, “deploy.”

 

“You will all fall before me.”

 

“Deploy.” Tony said once more as he was unceremoniously thrown from his tower window, shattering the glass. Loki looked towards the strange sound behind him and dodged the metal contraption that flew past, he heard a child telling him to stop in the back of his mind before facing the window once more at the sound of the Man of Iron.

 

“And there’s one other person you pissed off.” Loki raised an eyebrow, “His name was Phil.” Tony sent a blast of electricity towards Loki long before the god could raise his sceptre.


	26. Chapter 25

Harriet Coulson: Avenger

Chapter 25

Loki was having a bad day. He knew he was having a bad day, the voice in his head knew he was having a bad day, but it was a good day to be bad. He was dazed after that blast of energy had hit him, and so he lay on the ground catching his breath as pulses of energy from the Tesseract created the door the Chitauri needed to come through.

 

He once again turned his mind inside to the voice he could hear telling him to stop, to end this madness, to give up this poisonous dream. It sounded like Thor, but he knew the voice to be of a younger him, during a time when he’d looked up to his brother. He sneered; Thor was no brother of his. Thor was not burdened with the glorious purpose that he was, he had an army to control a world to dominate.

 

_“No, this is not what we want. We just want a place to belong”_

“I will belong, once I am King!” He snarled back as he sat, grabbing hold of the sceptre the voice quietened and then disappeared. He had no time for childish reasoning; he had a world to conquer.

 

The smoke became thicker and his older self, the one that controlled their body, moved out of the room that they had been in; he could see the destruction that he was causing and felt the glee of the one who he’d managed to get through to for but a moment. His skin turned blue as he hurled his body at the screen, he needed to break free of this control. He needed to make sure that the girl was fine, that her father was fine. He wanted to make it right.

 

~~^v^~~

 

“Loki!” Thor landed on the man of iron’s tower and saw his brother, he mentally shook his head. Loki was no brother of his, not after the destruction of the people who he’d sworn to protect. “Turn off the Tesseract, or I’ll destroy it.”

 

“You can’t. There is no stopping it.” Thor felt his blood run cold, no stopping it? There had to be a way, everything could be stopped in one way or another. “There is only the war.”

 

Thor felt his calm, he knew how to fight, and he would fight his brother even if it pained him to hurt such a twisted being, “So be it.”

 

Loki lunged from his position and Thor tilted his body to the side, the sceptre had a longer reach that his Hammer and so he had to try and get close, but his brother had been trained with a spear and so knew moves which he did not. A blast of energy headed towards his face as he brought Mjolnir up, the magic disperse and they came apart, Loki moving forward once more with a swing meant to decapitate, Thor dislodged his aim with a single hit and the edge of the tower fell to the street below.

 

~~^v^~~

 

“Stark, we’re on your three, headed northeast.”  Harriet had felt the pulse of magic as the portal had opened and if Clint hadn’t taken control when he did they would have crashed. She felt Captain Roger’s hand on her forehead and pushed it aside as she sat, there was no way the Magical America hadn’t felt that.

 

“We need to get that portal closed.” She muttered distractedly as she watched the two figures on the balcony of Stark Tower. Steve hovered like the old fashioned gentleman that he was as Tony’s snarky comment came through the Comm. Link.

 

_“What? Did you stop for drive-through? Swing up Park. I’m going to lay them out for you.”_

Clint handled the craft with ease through the buildings and got into position, Natasha was already at the controls to open fire as Tony blasted past with a tail of over ten bogies.

 

“I need you to fly to the top of the tower.” Clint nodded at Harriet’s words.

 

“Are you sure?” Natasha asked even as they continued at her command.

 

“I’m sure. Thor can’t take him out on his own; it has to be magic on magic. If Banner was here I’d ask him to do it, but we don’t even know if he survived the fall.” Steve looked from one agent to the next.

 

“You can’t be thinking what I think you’re thinking, right?” He watched Harriet smile at him as the latch behind them opened.

 

“Please don’t worry Sir, when this is all over we’ll go to that dance.” She saluted as she stepped off the edge, a twist in her step. Steve was a little stunned as he stepped towards the edge not seeing where Agent Coulson had fallen.

 

“Nat?”

 

“I see him.” Natasha started to open fire before one of the engines went down from a blast of magic sent by Loki. The hatch was closed and Steve held on for dear life as the craft spiralled slightly out of control to the ground. They struggled out of their harnesses as they left the craft and turned to Stark tower.

 

“We’ve got to get back up there. We can’t leave Agent Coulson alone.” Natasha nodded as they ran along the road towards Grand Central Station; there was complete chaos as civilians ran past them in panic. The stared at the portal as a Leviathan came out, they hall had the same thought. This just got complicated.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Harriet Coulson landed softly on the platform above the fighting brothers, with silent feet she ran inside and passed the bar to the open area across from them. She watched at tug of war they had while fighting and took in the sceptre, she could feel it try to get past her Occlumency shields and narrowed her eyes. That was how it worked; it slowly infected the mind until you couldn’t tell you were being controlled. Another pulse from the portal had her on her knees before a blast of energy from the sceptre took off her head, this close she could feel every pulse and flux of the Tesseract and knew it needed to be shut off before things got any worse, but first she had to deal with Loki. She trusted the others to keep the streets safe and if Loki was still like the little boy she encountered he’d use all the tricks of his magic to stay as far from the main fighting as possible.

 

“Look at this! Look around you! You think this madness will end with your rule?” Harriet stayed low as Thor spoke; the brothers had seemed to have come to an impasse.

 

“It’s too late. It’s too late to stop it.”

 

“No. We can, together.”

 

“You still believe he can be redeemed?” Harriet called, Loki paused with a small dagger in his hand to face her, Thor stepping backwards and doing the same. Neither had noticed the woman come, neither had noticed how far she had reached them.

 

“All can be redeemed.” Thor spoke with conviction as Loki laughed, once again moving towards Thor to stab him with his hidden blade. Suddenly the woman was there, knocking his hand to the side before Thor pulled her backwards and out of harm’s way. Loki’s dagger fell off the edge and he snarled.

 

“Who are you to stop me? You were made to be ruled you pathetic mortal!”

 

“Pathetic now am I? I thought you wanted me to be your Queen, to rule by your side?” Thor looked between the two, confusion on his face. Loki mirrored his look as he felt something break in the back of his mind, he knew her, he didn’t know how but he knew her. Probably more than he knew himself, but how?

 

“I need no one to rule beside me!” Thor had had enough, he punched his brother in the face, and Loki smashed the glass as Thor once again raised him above his head and slammed him to the ground. Loki rolled off the edge as Harriet made a mad grab for his sceptre.

 

“Lady Coulson, I am sorry for your loss.” Harriet looked over the edge as she watched Loki get away, before turning to the god behind her.

 

“Thank you, but we need to stop him. We need to save Midgard.” Thor nodded as he picked up his Hammer; the Lady Coulson was a smart woman indeed.

 

~~^v^~~

 

“Well we got his attention. What the hell was step two?” Tony turned and sped away, the big hunk of alien fish thing following him through the air, not caring that it was taking buildings away at the same time. “Please tell me you found its soft spot.” He turned a corner and spotted the chaos going on below him, it seemed as if Natasha and Clint were having the time of their lives, he couldn’t see the Captain though. Or his gopher.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Natasha used one of her signature moves and her Widow’s bite to take out the Chitauri that had gotten too close for comfort, he guns had become useless ages ago and she knew Clint was running out of arrows. She inwardly smiled, it did remind her of Budapest and, yeah, Clint probably remembered the down time more than the work, but to her down time was work.

 

They were being swamped and it didn’t take long for her to figure out how to use the enemies’ weapons against them, she shut off the part of her that was appalled by the complete disintegration of the Chitauri from a single blast. So it was lucky that Captain America chose that time to region them, even if she believed that both her and Clint could of handled it, they were a team after all and a well-oiled one at that.

 

Thor landed in great style as always and Natasha was a little shocked to see Harriet cradled in his arm, she moved forward at the same time that Clint did, glad for the reprieve to check both of her friends over.

 

“This isn’t going to go to plan.” Harriet spoke quietly as the Captain spoke to Thor, she absentmindedly ran her hand over Clint’s quiver and arrows filling it to the brim once more, he nodded in thanks his eyes taking stock of the fact she didn’t appear to have been in any sort of battle for the moment.

 

“What do you mean?” Harriet looked at him and ran her hand through her dark hair in a nervous habit that she’d tried to stop years ago, it was a tell and Agents weren’t meant to have them.

 

“He’s being controlled much like you were. We need to separate and recalibrate to fix it, if we can. He’s had extensive work done and I’ve only seen it once before.” Natasha felt them both look at her.

 

“That bad?” Harriet nodded as the sound of a motorbike disrupted the slight calm that they had. She turned to see a man, a little worse for wear start walking towards them.

 

“So, this all seems horrible.” Harriet couldn’t help but laugh and the man looked towards her sharply.

 

“Sorry, I’m Agent Harriet Coulson. It’s nice to finally meet you Dr. Banner. I’m a great fan of The Other Guy.” Bruce looked a little stunned as Steve called his arrival through to Stark.

 

“Thanks, I think. And Agent Romanoff, I’m sorry about earlier.”

 

“It’s fine. We could really use his help.” Banner nodded as Harriet gentle placed her hand on the small of Natasha’s back and rubbed a continuous circle with her thumb.

 

_“…I’m bringing the party to you.”_ Harriet frowned as she watched Tony appear at the other end of the street, the Leviathan right behind him.

 

“I don’t see how this is a party.” She muttered at the same time Natasha spoke and they looked at each other with a grin before Bruce turned to face the new threat.

 

“Dr. Banner. Now might be a good time for you to get angry.”

 

“That’s my secret, Captain.” Bruce smiled and felt The Other Guy grin, “I’m always angry.” As Bruce began to shift in front of them, Harriet squealed in delight, making Steve and Thor jump, as she stepped between them and stood at a safe distance from The Hulk. Her wand was in her hand and she erected a shield as the Leviathan started to tip over the top of them, pieces of its armour falling to the ground around them. Natasha and Clint watched the spark of happiness on Harriet’s face and smiled while Tony blasted the body back the way it had come with a few of his rockets.

 

They formed a loose circle, finally a team as the Chitauri reacted to their taking down one of their own with such ease. The Hulk roared back at them, Harriet twirled her wand through her fingers with a sneer, Tony landed safely, Clint cocked his bow, Thor readied his Hammer, Natasha reloaded her guns and Steve began issuing instructions.

 

It was time to go to work.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Loki looked from his bloodied hands to the smears on the barrier in front, for a moment he had broken it, regained control only to have it ripped from him a second later. He could see no way out of this, the barrier was stronger now, no cracks marred its perfection, and he looked to the darkened corner beside him. He had a different kind of company now, one that laughed at his failures, which sneered and undermined him.

 

He didn’t know how long he could wait for her to help him.

 

~~^v^~~

 

_“Cap, call it.”_

“Alright, listen up. Until we can close that portal, our priority is containment.” Steve didn’t turn, he just watched as more came from the portal. “Barton, I want you on that roof. Eyes on everything, call out patterns and strays. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything that gets more than three blocks out, turn it back or turn it to ash.” Steve turned pointing the locations out, he wasn’t messing around. This was the guy that had saved the world before. Clint nodded his understanding as Harriet moved towards him and whispered a spell under her breath, he tilted his head at her and she smiled.

 

“Can’t have you running out, now can we? Stay safe Clint, I can’t lose anyone else.” He nodded and squeezed her hand before turning to Tony.

 

“Can you give me a lift?”

 

_“Right. Better clench up, Legolas.”_ Harriet watched them go as she turned back to the leader of their group.

 

“Thor, you got to try and bottleneck that portal. Slow them down. You got the lightning, light the bastards up.” Thor was gone with a twirl of his Hammer, “Widow and me, we stay here on the ground. We keep the fighting here. Coulson, you got the magic. Curse those bastards; let them know we are not one to back down from a fight. Hulk…” Steve faced the green guy, “Smash.”

 

Hulk gave a grin before roaring once more and jumping towards the building beside them, where the Chitauri clung like monkeys. Harriet nodded and with a pop of displaced air disappeared from their line of vision, though Steve could see flashes of different coloured beams on the level below them. He turned to Natasha, now was the time to see how well they could all work as a team.

 

“For Philip Coulson.” He spoke thorough the Comm. Link.

 

_“For Coulson.”_

_“For Phil.”_

_“For dad.”_

 

~~^v^~~

 

Thor loved his control over lighting, it was a dangerous power and only those of a strong disposition could handle it. He knew he’d only just gained a firm control over it and knew that using it for too long could be harmful, as the power built up and left the conductor that he’d chosen he knew it was only a matter of time before he’d be too weak to use it. Magic wasn’t his strong point, all knew that, and lightning was a drain on the magic of all Asgardians, that’s why he was shocked when he felt a small source of magic flow into him to help him control more of the lightning that usual, he was even more shocked when he felt where the magic was originating from to begin with.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Harriet’s mind was filed with different spells, there was no pause as beam after beam burst from her wand, as bullet after bullet was shot from her gun that would never empty. Her magical core was still stabilising, and using this much magic at once wasn’t going to be good for her but she had to do it. She had to work, she had to prove that what her father died for, the hope of mankind, would not fail. Sweat broke out on her forehead as she dodged behind a car, the mantra of spells paused as she took a breath, silent casting was a speciality of hers and one she was proud of.

 

She rolled as the Chitauri found her position and she sent a couple of blasting hex’s towards them as she stood, three rounds of her gun and she disapperated to the bridge above where Steve and Natasha were fighting back to back. She felt a wave of dizziness as Thor sent his lightning to the portal, barely managing to twist out of the way of an energy blast. Her pulse raced as she ducked and weaved along with Natasha and Steve, all three working together to fight the oncoming enemy, even being joined by Tony for a brief second before he too was gone in the melee.

 

She could hear Clint call out from his perch and briefly glanced to see him still safe, the lightning had stopped and the dizziness was fading, she saw Natasha get smacked over the head and sent a pulse of magic at the Chitauri surrounding her, “We need to close that portal!”

 

“I’m on it!” Harriet called back, sending a severing curse at the nearest Chitauri before running to the edge and landing on one of the enemies hovering ships, it was easy to take out the Chitauri and after sending her magic into the craft it was easy to then control. She needed to get up there; if guns couldn’t get the portal to close then maybe her magic could instead.

 

 

~~^v^~~

 

_“The council have made their decision.”_

“I understand you have made a decision, but being as it’s a stupid-ass decision I’ve elected to ignore it.” Fury glared with his one eye at the screen in front of him.

 

_“Director, you’re closer than any of our subs. You scramble that jet…”_

“That is the island of Manhattan, Councilman. Until I’m certain my team can’t hold it, I will not order a nuclear strike against a civilian population.” Maria could see Fury’s anger rise and carefully tapped her Comm. Link.

 

“Emerald, we may have a nuke heading your way.”

 

_“Roger that Hill. Anything else.”_ Maria heard a blast of static before the line went dead; she closed her eyes as she turned back to Fury.

 

~~^v^~~

 

“Shit.” Harriet felt her Comm. Link spark in her ear as she dodged a blast from the craft that Loki controlled, time for Plan B. She tapped the S.H.I.E.L.D. panel on her suit, “Hawkeye!”

 

Clint jumped slightly as his S.H.I.E.L.D. panel glowed green, “Emerald?” he turned and spotted her quickly followed by Loki, “What the hell are you doing? Isn’t that more Nat’s thing?”

 

_“I haven’t got time to explain… Shit! Son of a Troll! A little help would be nice.”_

 

Clint shook his head and grinned already having an exploding arrow aimed, “I got him.” He released the arrow and watched the bastard of a god get blasted onto the balcony of Stark tower. Clint watched Harriet fly higher and then make an emergency landing near the Tesseract. _“Thanks Hawkeye. I owe you a beer.”_ Clint smiled, something’s never changed, and he’d always be looking out for his girls.

 

~~^v^~~

 

_Cognitive recalibration, remember, that’s what the magic lady told us._ Hulk huffed as he took the last leap he needed to reach the top of the tower where the Puny God once more resided; he couldn’t remember being told anything but His Bruce had said that was what he’d been told. Hulk didn’t know what cognitive recalibration was so he’d just smash, after all that was how he’d dealt with all the others that had tried to harm His Bruce. If Puny God was anything like Stupid God then he’d even get a new toy.

 

“Enough!”

 

_Oh, Loki wants to talk._ Hulk huffed and banged his fists against the floor, who cared he just wanted to smash.

 

“You are, all of you, beneath me! I am a god, you dull creature. And I will not be bullied by…” Hulk reached out and swung the Puny God around, he wanted silence and his toy would shut up. He could hear His Bruce laughing and continued to swing the Puny God until he became bored, he snorted as the god stayed down, and at least his toy knew his place.

 

“Puny God.” He muttered as he left to smash some more. All that Loki could do was breath a high pitched sigh of pain.

 

~~^v^~~

 

It was a shock to see the barrier shatter and break as it did, it was also painful to hear the roaring of the entity that had scorned him and made him feel like a child again. He was quick to leave, and even quicker to banish all of the darkness and what felt _wrong_ from his mind. He wanted to see her again, the girl who’d helped him, and for he was sure it had been her to tell the green thing to do this. To free him from an imprisonment that he’d never rightfully earned.

 

_We need to atone for this_ , he face his older self, the one who was battered and bruised, the one who had caused all this destruction. As a child who kept things simple he had come to accept his heritage that he’d never truly rule a kingdom, but at least he’d been raised as a child of his station should be, and he never knew. Maybe in his next life he would get the kingdom that was rightfully his, and the love of a family that was his own.

 

Loki stared at the child, so full of hope and wonder, a child so full of understanding and acceptance of all that he’d been, all that he’d become. He felt a tear of remorse fall down his cheek; he was a monster, a heathen. How would anyone look at him now? How would he face his mother? His student?

 

_She’s already forgiven you. She knew before I did that what you was doing was not you._ Loki looked again and knew the child was right, they’d shared minds; she knew he wasn’t the one behind all of this.

 

“I need to help them. I need to apologise.” The child smiled, its eyes red and skin of blue, it ran towards him and he embraced it, accepted it. A bright light shone from his body as he finally understood what it meant to be Loki, son of Laufey, adopted son on Odin and Frigga, brother of Thor, friend of Harriet Potter.

 

~~^v^~~

 

“The sceptre…”

 

Harriet turned her gun raised, safety off ready to pull the trigger at a moment notice before she saw who was behind her. Dr. Selvig looked a little worse for wear but okay, he was also shocked and had his hands in the universal sign for ‘don’t shoot’.

 

“Loki’s sceptre. The energy. The Tesseract can’t fight, you can’t protect against yourself.” Harriet lowered her weapon as she looked at the machine behind her.

 

“It’s not your fault. The power behind the Tesseract was controlling you. It was controlling all of you.” Selvig shook his head as he lowered his hands.

 

“I was aware enough.” He turned to face the edge, “I built in a safety to cut their power source.”

 

“Loki’s sceptre.” Harriet faced him her eyes wide as she took the three necessary steps to meet him on the edge.

 

“It may be enough to close the portal.”

 

“And we’re looking right at it.” She muttered, looking down to see the sceptre in all its mind controlling glory below, lying innocently on the balcony of Stark tower. She tapped her badge again, “Avengers this is Coulson and I have a way to shut to portal. Unfortunately there may also be a nuke heading our way.”

 

_“Heading? Already inbound.”_  Harriet froze as Tony came across the line.

 

“Don’t even think about it Boss.”

 

_“It’s got to go somewhere gopher. Just make sure you have my coffee ready for when I get back.”_ She felt the blast of heat from the Ironman’s jets in the boots and watched as Tony sped towards the portal, a large white rocket on his back. She summoned the sceptre and stood by the portal as Selvig ran to the equipment and started to go through diagnostics.

 

“Right at the crown.” Harriet nodded as she prayed with all her might that they didn’t lose Tony, or anyone, she got into position and took deep breaths. Her mental shields where holding but she didn’t know how long for, she placed the sceptre through the first shield on the Tesseract.

 

“C’mon Tony.” She muttered, her eyes glued to the portal, she couldn’t lose anyone else.

 

_“Close it.”_ Harriet closed her eyes, a tear escaping as she put her energy and her body behind pushing the sceptre into the Tesseract. She felt dizziness as the energy flow stopped, and let go of the sceptre to look up at the closing portal, her keen eyes looking out for Tony.

 

_“Son of a gun.”_ Harriet grinned before realising he wasn’t stopping.

 

“Someone get him. He’s not slowing down. I repeat he’s not slowing down!” She grabbed a hold of Selvig’s arm and disapperated to the place where Tony’s decent would drop him that was if no one got to him in time.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Must save Science buddy. That was all Hulk was thinking as he ran across buildings, he needed to save His Bruce’s Science Buddy, even if Magic Lady hadn’t called it. He grabbed the red and gold object and cradled him in his arms as they skidded across the ground, when they stopped he pushed Science Buddy off him and looked towards the pop he’d heard.

 

Magic Lady was there with an unknown who was already retching, _Dr. Selvig,_ His Bruce supplied as he stood to face Magic Lady. She wasn’t looking at him though, she was looking at Science Buddy and Hulk didn’t mind that. Magic Lady was nice to him; she’d wrapped him in something to protect his skin from the Bugs magic. He wasn’t just a nerve now.

 

Hulk watched as Stupid God arrived with Old Man and Spider, Stupid God ripped off Science Buddy’s mask as Magic Lady waved something over his body.

 

“He’s not breathing.” Hulk huffed, as Old Man and Stupid God looked away, Magic Lady was still muttering to herself waving her hand in different positions, “No, Stark don’t you dare. Don’t you dare leave us.”

 

Hulk roared he wanted Science Buddy to keep His Bruce happy.

 

~~^v^~~

 

“What the hell?” Tony looked to see everyone gathered around him, he frowned where was his visor? “Gopher did you kiss me? Because if you did that was a major breach of your contract and you could have told me earlier.” He noticed Harriet smile, though there were tear marks on her dirty face that she tried to wipe off before he could notice.

 

“We won.” Tony turned his eyes to Steve and breathed.

 

“All right, yay! Hurray! Good job guys and ladies. Let’s just not come in tomorrow. Let’s just take a day off.” Tony turned his head towards The Hulk, “Have you ever tried shawarma? There’s a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don’t know what it is but I want to try it.”

 

Steve grinned, Tony would never change, he looked over to Agent Coulson to see she’d stood and was being comforted by Natasha, who was whispering in her ear. He looked back down at Tony, “That sounds good, but we’ve got a few loose ends to tie up.”

 

“Right.” Tony nodded as he was helped to stand by Steve and Thor, Natasha nodded to him over Harriet head and they all began the slow walk to Stark Tower, they were met by Clint, who looked a little worse for wear. Tony watched the three agents interact, they kept Harriet in the middle, protected as if they wanted to reassure themselves that she was alright, and he had to admit if he wasn’t just recovering from a near death experience he’d be reassuring himself that she was fine too. As it was she did keep looking over her shoulder to make sure that he was still there, that he was still alive and he took a little comfort in the fact his gopher cared about him too.

 

~~^v^~~

 

He was in pain. Harriet knew he was in pain, as she could feel it like her own. She stepped in front of the rest of the Avenger’s, and ignored the protest the Natasha made and the strange look she got from Steve.

 

“Hello, Mr. Asgard.” She spoke softly; undoubtedly he’d have a headache.

 

“Miss. Coulson, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?”

 

“Are you back to your normal senses?” Loki turned his face towards her and she saw the green eyes much like her own, a part of her became less tense as she smiled and crouched in front of him. “The healers are on their way, but I need to place these on your wrists. For safety of course, we wouldn’t want this to be another trick.”

 

Loki didn’t look as if he understood but he allowed her to place the magic suppressing restraints on him, as he looked to the people behind her. They all had their weapons pointed at him, or in Hulks case looked menacing.

 

“Who are they?” He asked and Harriet carefully leaned back.

 

“They are my team. You appeared to have had your mind controlled after you fell into the Yggdrasil.” Loki looked back to her and looked thoughtful.

 

“I wanted to show the people of Asgard that my brother wasn’t yet ready to rule, that neither of us were.” Harriet nodded and hummed in a positive way, “I can’t remember anything after the war with Jotunheim, other than the fact that Laufey is my father and I know you. Your magic if familiar to me, but I do not know why.”

 

“All will be answered once you return with us.” Harriet stood, “Do not fear, Loki, son of Laufey, adopted son of Odin and Frigga, brother of Thor. You are under my protection.” Loki nodded before the darkness over took once more.

 

“What the hell are you thinking?” Harriet turned cold emerald eyes towards her team.

 

“He has been put through hell thanks to Thanos and that bloody glow stick; I refuse to see a good soul treated like a criminal for something that was not his fault!”

 

“Thanos?” Thor asked and Harriet sighed.

 

“I will explain once we get back to base. It will take a while and I feel like there is something else I need to do.” She frowned and rubbed at her head, Natasha came forwards and helped to massage her headache away.

 

“Okay, Emerald, okay.” She and Clint had never questioned her instincts before, they weren’t about to now.


	27. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where the story started to deviate from the original plot. Hence the break into two separate stories.

Harriet Coulson: Avenger

Chapter 26

Severus Snape stood in the shadows of Stark Tower as he watched his goddaughter and her companions leave, floating behind them was the unconscious body of Loki (and wasn’t that a huge shock for him to find out? Asgardian Gods on Earth!). He waited, his thoughts in turmoil, but felt a huge relief when his silent diagnostic charms showed Harriet was relatively unharmed, though she seemed to be suffering from an almost depleted magical core. He frowned again; surely she hadn’t used _that_ much magic in this fight?

 

“Severus?” He turned dark eyes to his companion; Draco Malfoy had been a student of his for the whole of his Hogwarts carer and was now his apprentice. He hadn’t meant to drag the pale boy with him, but it became necessary with Voldemort taking up residence in the young man’s home.

 

“I told you to wait.”

 

“I would have if I hadn’t felt the pulse.” Draco turned his aristocratic face to the group his godfather was watching, a sneer drifted across his features at the sight of muggles but he could feel magic there as well and sent his senses out. He gasped as the young woman in the centre of the group turned to look about her, causing the group to stop.

 

“That’s Potter.” He breathed as he felt Severus grasp his arm and they disappeared with a crack of misplaced air. Upon arrival in their room, Draco’s eyes widened as he took in the dark look on his companions face, “You knew? You’ve known where she was this whole time and didn’t tell anyone!”

 

“Draco, who do you think got her out in the first place?” Severus turned to their beds and sat down; Draco stared at the man in front of him and wondered how long the war had really been going on behind the scenes.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Harriet stared at the streets around her; she could have sworn someone had brushed against her with magic.

 

“Miss Coulson?” She turned green eyes towards the Captain and smiled softly.

 

“So Boss, where’s this shawarma joint you were telling us about?” Harriet knew that Clint and Natasha were sharing a look behind her back, and chose to ignore it, as she started to walk forwards until she was next to Tony.

 

“A couple of blocks over, I believe. Gopher, why don’t you run ahead and tell them to prepare for our arrival?” Harriet snorted and left with a crack, she knew the place Tony was on about it, her dad used to meet a few contacts there. She felt a pain in her chest at the thought of her dad and shook her head as she appeared across the street from the damaged building. Avoiding the rubble she walked forward carefully to see a couple trying to clear the mess.

 

“Excuse me? Would I and a few friends be able to get something to eat?” The woman jumped and spoke in a foreign language before smiling and nodding.

 

“Of course dear, what would you like?” She noticed the man looking behind her with raised eyebrows wondering where her friends were.

 

“Um, could we have a bit of everything and could you send the bill to Stark Tower?” Harriet smiled and flicked her wrist in a showy way as she summoned a card into her hand, much like a spell she had seen in Loki’s mind. The woman in front of her smiled and nodded as she put her broom to one side and spoke to the man quickly, she found a table and began righting chairs as the smell of cooking food reached her and the sounds of the other avengers as they finally reached the shop.

 

“See Cap, my gopher always gets it done.” Tony walked in like he owned the place and Harriet asked for a mug of coffee quietly before turning to face them all.

 

“Stark, she’s not a gopher. She’s a part of the team.” Harriet hid a smirk as she sat in the seat between Natasha and Clint, who both instinctively turned in their seats to her. Clint rested one of his legs along her seat while Natasha made sure she couldn’t get out the other side by placing her legs either side of Harriet’s chair, it was nice that they still worried for her safety and Harriet had missed them and their overbearing ways. She turned to the broken windows to see Loki had been tied to one of the bike locks outside, he was still unconscious and she watched his chest rise and fall while Tony and Steve continued to bicker.

 

When the food arrived, they all fell silent and ate. They all had a lot to sort out within their minds before they even tried to explain it all to Fury.

 

~~^v^~~

 

It was cold, and yet warm, dark but light. There was a throne, and silks, jewels, objects. A skeletal hand reached out to touch the emerald cloth, but drew back. It wasn’t time yet; there was still work to be done. The being turned from the throne and ambled their way towards the large doors at the end of the hall, a cloud of dust kicked up behind them.

 

It wasn’t time, soon though, very soon. The doors creaked as they closed, so unused were they since the Mistress had left them. In the darkness you could see a glow of a person stood next to the throne, staring at it in wonder and sadness.

 

~~^v^~~

 

“To think a mere few hours ago you were at each other’s throats.” Fury faced Coulson, “You were a block of ice with no inclination to even defrost. And yet here you are the heroes. The Avengers.”

 

“Sir, with all due respect, we only did what you set us up to do.” Fury’s one eye narrowed, before Agent Hill cleared her throat beside him.

 

“And how did I set up Loki creating a portal? You breaking free from the ice? The team coming together?” Fury lifted his chin and dared the young agent to answer.

 

“None of us would have been here if you didn’t have those files for your super-secret boyband.” Tony injected, seeing where his gopher was coming from, he also ignored the glare the Cyclops gave him as he turned to frown at the doorway.

 

“Be that as it may…” Fury was interrupted by a commotion by the doorway, everyone turned to see two men, one young and fair and the other tall and dark. They both had scowls on their faces as they were dragged further into the room.

 

“Uncle?” The Avengers turned their heads to Harriet who had stood and was rushing over to hug the dark haired man fiercely. “What are you doing here? I thought...” She trailed off and tilted her head as she pulled back from the hug. Clint and Natasha were now a few paces from them and glancing warily at the young blond who none of them had seen before.

 

“Is everything okay in England?” Harriet asked quietly only to get both men flinching, “Does he know?” The flinch was stronger and much more noticeable to the others that were still sat around the table. Harriet frowned, while Natasha glared at the Agents holding the two men, before they all moved back over to the table and Harriet forced Severus and the blond to sit.

 

“Please Uncle Severus. What’s happened?” Severus looked into the green eyes of his goddaughter and mentally sighed, he couldn’t lie to the one person that everything was about.

 

“Dumbledore knows where you are. He is also becoming more demonstrative in his quest to get to you.” Severus paused and looked to Draco, who was glancing warily at the muggles and Harriet in turn. “It’s time for you to return to England and finish it.” Harriet was about to speak when he placed and hand over hers, “We can’t postpone it any longer. You have allies, training. You know how much I wish you didn’t have to do this, but if we wait any longer it’s not just England that will suffer. Surely your father told you what has happened in the past few months?”

 

“I was out of commission.” Harriet spoke quietly, and felt the icy coldness sweep over her as Severus turned his coal black eyes on Director Fury.

 

“Out of commission.” The blond looked sharply at Severus.

 

“Uncle Sev?” Harriet looked at the blond and frowned softly before she smiled a blinding smile, “Cousin Draco!” The blond’s eyes widened slightly before he tilted his head for a fraction of a second before turning back to Severus.

 

“Fury. Why was my goddaughter out of commission?” Severus kept is gaze on the one eyed man who only blinked, “Why did Coulson not inform me? In fact where is he?”

 

“Mr. Snape. You were not informed because of the security issues surrounding Agent Coulson, as well as being out of contact.” Fury blinked before taking a breath, “Also Agent Coulson Senior i-“

 

“Dad’s dead, Uncle Sev. I couldn’t get there in time.” Harriet was looking at her lap, as Natasha placed a hand on the small of her back. The Avengers all looked down at their hands or off to the side with the news that was finally out in the open. Not many knew Harriet personally, but they had all worked and spoken to Philip Coulson and knew that he was well liked, if formidable.

 

Severus closed his eyes and gathered his goddaughter to him, before glancing up at Fury who only shook his head minutely to show that they would be talking in length on the matter at a later date.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Draco had no idea what was going on, all he knew was that Severus Snape (his godfather and only chance of survival) had been keeping the location of the Girl-Who-Lived a secret from everyone! For 21 years! He didn’t know if he should be impressed by the Slytherin-ness of the situation or if he should be shaking his head at the stupidity of it. Either way it was still something that the young pureblood couldn’t quite wrap his head around, he looked towards the young woman in the strange muggle attire and felt confused all over again. It seemed that she had been in a war zone even worse, if not larger, than what wizarding Britain had become in the past few years.

 

“Uncle Sev.” He spoke again and felt everyone’s eyes on him, “I think now would be a good time to explain why we’re here.”

 

Harriet pulled away from the Professor and sat in the chair that had been left open between the two wizards, if she fell into her grief now she’d never survive the next few months. She needed to stay focused if she was to get through all of this.

 

Draco still felt a strange aloofness to the fact that he was sat next to her and Severus smirked mentally at the star-struck expression the young man had. Narcissa had been a little too enthusiastic in telling the boy about the Girl-Who-Lived.

 

“Thank you Draco. Fury, Harriet. The situation in Britain has worsened.” Severus took a deep breath and pulled up the sleeve on his left arm, causing the woman on his right to stiffen with alarm before his arm was yanked towards her, “He’s back, and we may have left it too late.”

 

“He’s back?” Harriet spoke softly, aware that Natasha and Clint were both looking between her and the mark on Severus’ arm quizzically, “How?”

 

“Dumbledore suspected that he wasn’t truly gone after that night. That he was only biding his time.” Severus paused as he felt a pressure on his mark and saw Harriet gingerly touching the raw skin around it.

 

“We have reports to confirm this, and a young agent was placed within Hogwarts for the years that you should have attended. To try and stop him from fully rising and keeping an eye on things from the perspective of future followers should he rise again.” Fury collaborated and Harriet looked sharply up at him, she knew logically that there had to have been a magical division of S.H.I.E.L.D. she just hadn’t had it confirmed until just then. Which also begged the question how had Fury been able to contract children to be agents at a school for magic? Were they muggle raised or had he pulled from a pure blood house? Or was it another teacher other that Severus?

 

“Second year at school was plagued by a string of incidents, each getting more and more violent, until the last term in which a student went missing.” Draco paused as green eyes locked with his, “The student didn’t survive the encounter and as such the Dark Lord was partially resurrected.”

 

“Partially resurrected. How can he be partially resurrected?” Harriet repeated with a frown and thought about it fully, “He stole the life force of a student but it wasn’t enough to bring him fully into the land of the living again. What happened to all the others involved in the earlier incidents?”

 

“They survived.” Fury spoke, before there was cough from the other side of the table, Harriet glanced up and her eyes widened at the confused looks of Tony, Steven and Bruce. Thor had a frown on his face as he glanced at Harriet as if seeing her again for the first time.

 

“Excuse me, but what exactly are you on about?” Tony spoke, and both Steve and Bruce nodded in agreement with the man.

 

“My abilities are not just S.H.I.E.L.D. training, its magic that I have inherited from my parents and ancestors.” Harriet paused, “my biological parents. It’s the manipulation of energy to harm, heal, change, repair and destroy. That’s the basic outline. If you want books on the subject I’m sure I can get them for you Tony.” She watched her Boss open and then close his mouth again with a nod.

 

“Anyway, the cliff notes version is, my biological parents were murdered by a magical Adolf Hitler due to a prophecy that some crackpot made. Yes, Uncle Severus I know about that, dad told me when I was 13. The night they were murdered he tried to kill me and failed, there are theories to that but no concrete proof on how it happened.” Harriet took a breath and smiled, “Uncle Severus took me from the wreckage of my home, on the orders of my mother, and handed me over to da- Agent Coulson, who then adopted me and as they say the rest is history.”

 

“So, you’re originally from England?” Harriet nodded to Tony who just shrugged and pulled out his phone, “Well, I’ve got some business to attend to in England so if you want some extra fire power with whatever it is you need to do I’ll do it. Pepper may hate me for it, but we’re a team now right?”

 

“Thank you.”

 

“I want you to stay here Gopher, and the longer you’re in England the worse Dum-E makes my coffee.” Tony looked up at her, “I swear you made him sentient.”

 

“I’m in too, Adolf Hitler was bad the first time round, and I’d hate to think what a magical one would be like. That’s if you don’t mind having this old man with you Miss. Coulson.” Harriet grinned at Steve, causing the super soldier to blush and look away. Draco found Harriet’s smile beautiful and frowned at his thoughts before catching Severus’ eyes, he didn’t trust that gleam in them. Not one bit. 

 

“Can magic protect against the Other Guy?” Bruce spoke quietly but Harriet heard him and leaned across the table as much as she could to hold his hand.

 

“Magic can clean every mess the Other Guy makes, and magic can also heal most if not all the wounds he’d inflict as well. Magic would also protect you like during the battle with Loki.” Harriet stopped and blinked, “That reminds me. Loki. I still need to talk to him.”

 

“Agent Coulson, the only place you will be going from here is to your quarter’s to pack for your stay in England, not to see –“Fury was cut off by the young Agent who had stood and was frowning at Thor.

 

“No, what Loki did was not his fault. When I was in that ice a connection was made between our Magik, yes Uncle Sev I’m talking of the olde magik. He was being controlled by a higher power, much like an Imperious, but more sophisticated.” Harriet looked to Fury, “I need to talk to him. He may even be a great ally in the fight to come.”

 

“He must first answer for his crimes on Asgard.” Thor’s voice rumbled, much like the thunder he controlled.

 

“He will. I just need to talk to him. The cameras are still working in there right? I will only be a few moments.” And with that Harriet disappeared with a crack of misplaced air.

 

“Looks like we’re all heading to jolly old England.” Clint spoke for the first time and Natasha nodded. Fury just shook his head as Maria called up the camera feed in the cell room that looked identical to the one that Philip Coulson had died in.

 

“Wait that still doesn’t tell us how he’s really back?” Tony spoke as the monitors flickered on and everyone turned to look at the genius. Severus sighed; he forgot how Harriet sometimes got side-tracked. 

 

~~^v^~~

 

Loki woke to a room that he had no recollection of, the last thing he remembered seeing was one of his students telling him that he was under her protection. What for he had no idea, but he would find out.

 

“It’s nice to see you awake.” Startled green eyes searched until he saw Harriet Coulson stood outside of the cell that he’d been placed in.

 

“How long have I been out?” He asked, in return she pulled her chair closer to the glass and sat, a memory jogged of another woman in her place but with flaming hair.

 

“Not long, a few hours. Do you remember what happened now?” He frowned, his mind was jumble of images and chaos, and he turned his head away and closed his eyes. A pulse of magic had his mind compartmentalised as he sifted through everything that had happened and he glanced back to Harriet a look of horror on his face.

 

“I see.” He watched her face close off from him as she turned her head to the side, “Know that what you did was no fault of your own. You have been manipulated for a long time.” Loki did not understand.

 

“Every secret passage you took within the Yggdrasil he was there, whispering, trying to get you to rein chaos upon the realms.” Green eyes much like his own came to rest back on him and he felt like a small child under that gaze, a gaze that knew so much; way too much. “And rein you did. Your brand of Chaos became more violent the longer you were exposed to him. Fortunately, the part of you that was locked away gave you a failsafe.”

 

“Thor’s banishment, we had a magical battle.” Loki spoke, as the memory flashed in his mind, she was very proficient in magic and he mentally smiled. She’d come a long way since their lunch time chats with milk.

 

“We did. You immobilised me with your element and that was your inner self giving you an out.” Harriet paused and took a good look at the battered god. “Have you accepted them yet?”

 

“I have. Your Hulk? He helped break the barrier in my mind.” Loki looked at Harriet, “The one you were trying to help break.” He frowned, memories of his time with her in his mind space, and hers flickered across the back of his eyes.

 

“The darkness inside you. That’s not yours is it?” He watched the young woman frown at him before her eyes close and he waited a few moments before panicked green eyes came to rest upon him once more.

 

“How? What?” Loki watched as she stood and disappeared with a crack, it seemed as if he’d said something out of turn. He looked towards the one of the many cameras in the room,

 

“Brother, I’m ready to go and face my sentence.”

 

In the main hub, Thor nodded at the screen before getting up and striding towards the cell his brother was being held in. Maria Hill had already turned to her computer and was trying to locate Harriet; it seemed her friend needed her once more. _Meet me in Room 102_ popped up on the screen with a little message box and Maria quickly and silently left to meet the young woman as she had all those years ago.


	28. Chapter 27

Harriet Coulson: Avenger

Chapter 27

There was a rhythmic pounding of feet on the cobbles, shouts called out trying to pinpoint a location, but he was smart. Not as smart as Otter, but smart enough to know when a trap was being laid out. He held the small pin on his cuff to his mouth, “Otter, this is Terrier, requesting extraction.”

 

There was a small moment of static in his earpiece, and he prayed to Merlin and Morgana that the tiny electrical device didn’t break on him, “Copy that Terrier, Otter says to proceed to extraction point as planned, Gemini are on distraction” He nodded to himself and moved from the cover that he had found, carefully picking his way along the street, doubling back when he thought he may have been spotted.

 

He waited, observing the extraction point for a few moments before casually walking across the open street and into the alley, where his portkey was meant to have been placed by Mandrake. It wasn’t there; instead there was a shadow and a beam of red spell-fire.

 

~~^v^~~

 

“You really need to stop doing this Harriet.” Maria closed the door to room 102 and entered the lock down code; it would stop people from getting in but may alert Fury to where they were.

 

“Old habits die hard.” Harriet grinned before slumping into one of the chairs in the smallest meeting room that the Helicarrier held, “Are you okay? You got hit too by the looks of it.”

 

“I’m fine. Why did you run from what he said?” Maria brushed her fingers over the scrapes on the side of her head before concentrating on the woman in front of her.

 

“I didn’t run” Maria gave Harriet a deadpan stare, “Okay, I may have run a little. It’s just what he said. The darkness on my core, I’ve never really thought of it. What if it’s not mine? What if I’ve had this parasite attached to me all this time?”

 

Maria stayed silent by the door as Harriet got up from the chair and paced back and forth, in all honesty the agent had no idea what to say. Magic wasn’t something Maria really understood, it was a part of her friend and she didn’t question what it could or couldn’t do because for Harriet it never did what was the norm.

 

“Maria, what do I do? What if it takes over?”

 

“Now you are being stupid Harriet. It will not take over we would have seen signs of it before if that was so.” Maria paused as Harriet pinned her with her emerald gaze, “It’s always been there right? Never growing, staying the same. What if it’s residual energy from the first time you were ever exposed to black magic? Also, doesn’t everyone have a bit of dark and light inside?”

 

Harriet paused and smiled sardonically, Maria was right of course. The dark part of her magic had been there her whole life; it could very well be the exposure from the killing curse as an infant. There was nothing to worry about, unless it got bigger or started to cause problems.

 

“How do you always know what to say?”

 

Maria smirked, “I learnt from the best.”

 

The two women shared a sad smile at the thought of Philip Coulson, the man who had helped them so much and taught them so much more.

 

~~^v^~~

 

The next few days were a frantic buzz as Dr. Banner and Tony Stark worked on a way to use the Tesseracts energy to get Thor and Loki back to Asgard. Natasha and Clint watched their friend put on a strong front but was always there to help when Harriet needed someone to spar with, spending many hours on the mats in the training room. Fury and Severus shut themselves in Fury’s office away from the prying eyes and ears of everyone. Draco spent his time between wandering the Helicarrier and getting to know the Girl-Who-Lived, learning of her training and sparring with her in magical combat. It was obvious to everyone that Harriet outclassed the pure blood but didn’t mind teaching him things that Britain never felt the need for the students to know.

 

“We’ve received word from Britain.”

 

Harriet ducked under the leg locker curse and sent off a banishment charm, which had Draco flying across the room as she turned to face her uncle. Severus Snape looked imposing in the black suit he’d managed to get from somewhere, and as Draco groaned in the background Harriet hastily scrambled down from the platform.

 

“What news?” She came to a stop and tucked a few flyaway strands of hair behind her ears, emerald eyes focused and all tiredness gone from her posture. Severus turned dark eyes to the blonde man that was currently trying to get up from where he’d landed on a bunch of mats by the wall, getting a slight wave as Draco rolled off and hit the ground with another groan.

 

“Weasley has been captured.” Harriet frowned, not knowing of any Weasley’s but the snort from Draco had her turning to face him.

 

“Weasle-by got himself captured? What was he doing, selling them hand-me-down robes?”

 

“He was on a mission for Dumbledore.” Severus spoke with a slight frown as he moved to the youth who was currently struggling to stand, “He was ambushed at the point of extraction.”

 

“Can’t even portkey out properly, and he calls himself a pure blood.” Draco muttered as Harriet wandered over to them and aimed a stinging hex at her cousin’s ankle enjoying his yelp as he promptly fell back onto his arse.

 

“Even the best of agents can have someone get the drop on them.” Harriet spoke solemnly a she held a hand out for Draco, helping him to his feet as Severus ran a diagnostic. “Does Fury know?”

 

Severus nodded as he placed freshening charms on the two and they walked to the exit, Harriet was happy to note the limp that Draco sported and couldn’t help but grin when he glared at her for it.

 

“So… Will we be heading over to help with the recovery mission, or does Fury want us to stay out of it for a while longer?”

 

“Fury is going to debrief you, Widow and Hawkeye. As agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. he can send you first, not the Avengers as it’s not of a worldwide nature.” Harriet nodded, it wouldn’t be right for Iron Man to show in the middle of England for something that required the skills of proper agents.

 

“Do we know when we can send Loki and Thor back to Asgard?” Draco asked as they turned a corner nearing the labs and the main control room.

 

“Soon, I should think.” Harriet replied, just as there was a call of “Gopher!” from inside the lab they were passing.

 

“Yo, Boss. Finished playing with the glow stick of destiny and the cube of doom and gloom?” Harriet entered the room to see both items on the lab table; Draco curiously looked in before Severus pulled him away.

 

“Not really, but we’ve got a way to get Thor and Loki back to Asgard.” Bruce spoke as he came out from behind one of the screens, adjusting his glasses as he tapped on the pad in his hand. Tony slung an arm around Harriet’s shoulders and dragged her further into the room, and although there was a screen separating them from the two artefacts the glow they emitted brightened significantly.

 

“That’s good, but I got to get to Fury.” Harriet ducked back out of the room, frowning as the glow dimmed and Tony tried to call her back in while explaining what the two scientists were doing.

 

“You seemed to brighten their day.” Draco smirked when the three magic users were a little further along the corridor, causing Harriet to punch him in the arm and Severus to roll his eyes at the pair. They arrived in the main control room where Maria tilted her head towards the main table where Clint and Natasha were currently sitting, Fury stood at the head.

 

“We need you to go to England with immediate effect.” Fury left no room for argument as the three sat at the table, Clint and Natasha instinctively curling their bodies to keep Harriet in their sights.

 

“Can they not locate this Weasley?” Harriet asked as she leaned forward to pick up one of the manila folders that had the name of the missing wizard.  

 

“Black Widow and Hawkeye are to be your eyes and ears. You are to locate Ronald Weasley, get the information he has obtained and get to a secure location where we will extract you.” Harriet blinked at the small amount of information in the file before looking up at Fury, “Getting the target out is secondary. You know what to do. You leave in 24 hours.”

 

“Why can they not extract this information themselves?” Harriet asked, “The British Ministry surely have more operatives than we do.”

 

“All of their assets are working on other missions. They have no one available to do this.”

 

“Bull shit.” Harriet responded and pinned Fury’s one eye with her own, “They know. They know and they want their saviour back on the board.”

 

“That’s no-“

 

“With all due respect, Sir, I know how these organisations work. How was my location and identity leaked?”

 

Fury closed his eye and took a breath, “We were compromised during the fiasco with Loki. That is when we can assume this information was leaked.”

 

“Was that also why you were in New York the day of the Chitauri invasion?” Harriet turned towards the two British wizards and huffed as they refused to look her in the eye, “Fine, we will go and extract this information from Weasley, but know that once the mission is over I will return here and continue training until my next assignment.”

 

Standing from the table she held her file to her chest as she left the way she had arrived to the room, not sparing a second glance towards the other occupants she moved along the corridors until she reached her room. Throwing the file on the bed she turned to the wardrobe and removed the standard pack all agents had already packed for missions, she only needed to place her toiletries into it and she was ready to go.

 

~~^v^~~

 

Hermione Granger was known as the smartest witch of her age. This meant she knew when things weren’t right, like how Severus Snape and Draco Malfoy dropped off the face of the earth. There was also how Dumbledore began to hold small meetings with select members outside of the usual Order meetings. Her brown eyes narrowed in consideration as she watched the door, at the bottom of the stairs, close behind Dumbledore and strong privacy wards flashed into existence.

 

Turning sharply on her heel she took the required three steps and knocked on the door that all younger members of the Order had called their HQ for the past few weeks. Especially since Ron’s capture and their complete shut out of all Order business.  

 

“Password?”

 

“For Merlin’s sake Fred I have no time for this.” She snapped before hearing laughter from the other side of the door, then a thud and then the door was opening. She quickly moved into the room shutting the door behind her and placing her own extensive list of privacy spells up.

 

“We don’t even have a password.” Neville muttered as Hermione stepped over Fred Weasley, who was rolling around on the floor clutching his stomach, she took in the haunted faces of those she’d grown up with at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

 

“He’s in another meeting. Is there any progress on finding out how this mission when to shit?”

 

“Whoa! Little miss prefect swore…” George gulped and pulled his twin to his feet at the glare Hermione threw his way, “There’s nothing. The residual magic has now left the area and without using Ministry resources there’s no way of tracking him this long after the fact.”

 

“What about our spies? Any rumours from His side as to where Ronald is?” Hermione turned to a dark skinned individual in the back, Blaise Zambini was an unlikely ally but with no word on Snape and Malfoy he was the only one they had.

 

“Nothing. He has spoken nothing of Weasley, at least not in the meetings I’ve been called for. Maybe the inner circle knows something but I do not know for definite.” Hermione nodded and took a seat placing her chin in her hand and she thought of what to do next.

 

“Dumbledore knows something; it’s why he’s become a little more active in the past few days. It’s also why He has stopped the majority of his raids. There’s a change coming, but for whose side it will benefit.” She looked up and saw the worried gazes of the resistance, “It’s too early to call. We need the information Ronald had. We need to find him and if Dumbledore continues to do nothing we will do it ourselves.”

 

There was a determined glint in her eyes as she leaned back and carefully studied the faces of those around her. Hermione Granger wasn’t the smartest witch of her age for nothing after all; she knew how to stage a coup if it was needed it was what she had been trained to do after all.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So.... This is the end... Thank you for staying with me so far. I'm going to try and write the whole of the next one in one hit so there will not be that long of a wait between chapters for the next one. 
> 
> Thank you for keeping with it.


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